Licking County Commissioner Doug Smith set to serve, draw retirement
Nov 25, 2010
AMY HOLLON Advocate Reporter ...
NEWARK -- Licking County Commissioner Doug Smith will start receiving retirement benefits this year despite his recent re-election to office, a decision that has at least two of his fellow elected Republicans disgruntled.
Smith said he intends to serve the full four-year term as county commissioner.
However, for Ohio Public Employee Retirement System purposes, Smith will retire at the end of this year, just before his new term begins. The move allows him to continue to receive his paycheck as county commissioner and start receiving retirement benefits from PERS.
"I am not retiring from Licking County government but for a millisecond," he said. "I contacted PERS earlier in the year when I was debating whether or not to run ... I asked them if there was any advantage to continue to (wait) or should I just take the retirement. They said there wasn't an advantage."
Often referred to as "double-dipping," the choice to start receiving retirement benefits before actually retiring is not uncommon among government employees and is permitted through PERS rules with certain stipulations.
But Licking County Auditor Terry Evans and Treasurer Michael Smith said the decision is dishonest to voters who just reelected the commissioner.
"Personally, myself, if I had known this up front, I don't know if I would have supported him (in the election)," Evans said. "I had the opportunity to do this ... (and) I know there are some people that say it is allowable, but I couldn't do it."
The treasurer, who also is the auditor-elect, agreed.
"The economic situation, with unemployment where it is, and the economy where it is, it just doesn't bode well with our voters out there," Michael Smith said. "I think we are all held to a higher standard as elected officials and promise to do the right thing. This doesn't appear to have been the right thing to do."
Michael Smith said if the commissioner wanted to retire and knew it ahead of time, he should have notified the board of elections, which can be done in several ways.
One is to notify the board 90 days before the election, at which point it becomes public record. Another is to notify the appropriating authority. A third choice, Michael Smith said, is to retire 90 days before the general election.
It also is common to notify the political party, he said.
Michael Smith said because the commissioner did not follow any of those options, the retirement money he receives during his term will go into an annuity that he receive in a lump sum at the end of his term.
The auditor and treasurer have delivered a letter to Doug Smith asking him to either withdraw his retirement application or vacate his office.
But the commissioner said he made a personal financial decision. He has worked for local governments since the 1970s and has paid into the retirement system since that time. Counting his additional military time and time he has "purchased" through the years, Doug Smith has maxed out the benefits he will receive.
"There is nothing illegal or unethical about it; it is just a personal decision I've made to start drawing my retirement," Doug Smith said.
Doug Smith said it also is an estate planning decision. If he were to die today, his heirs could recoup only the money he has paid into the system. After he retires, however, they also can recoup the money received during the retirement period.
"By delaying it, it would not have been any benefit to me," Doug Smith said. "I make no apologies for paying into this and accumulating 45 years of service."
