Thursday, February 03, 2000
Lebanon can ask retirement refund
Auditor OKs pursuit of $486K
BY CINDI ANDREWS
The Cincinnati Enquirer
LEBANON — City Council can reclaim the $486,000 paid into the state retirement system on behalf of three high-ranking former employees, the state auditor's office said Wednesday.
If council members choose, they can pass a resolution rescinding the early retirement buyouts, said Kim Norris, a spokeswoman for the auditor's office. However, the auditor's office will not conduct its own investigation of the payments.
But Lebanon Councilmen Mark Flick and James Reinhard said Wednesday it might be premature to demand the money back.
“The (first) issue we have to deal with is were they eligible,” Mr. Flick said.
Mr. Reinhard, however, said it's important to freeze the money while making those decisions. That would likely be accomplished through a lawsuit against the three retirees.
Through appropriations that allegedly slid past council without its knowledge, city auditor Debbie Biggs, city attorney Bill Duning and deputy electric department director Bob Newton received early retirement buyouts late last year totaling $486,000. The money was funneled through an electric department program into the Public Employees Retirement System (PERS).
Mrs. Biggs and and Mr. Duning have said they qualified because they did extensive work for the electric department.
Lebanon officials said Wednesday that regardless of whether the money is recovered, the investigation into possible criminal wrongdoing remains in the hands of the Ohio Ethics Commission.
Mrs. Biggs and Mr. Newton approved their own buyouts, for $110,565 and $169,549, respectively, and Mr. Duning's, for $206,302. The money was paid into PERS, increasing each of their benefits by as much as $5,800 a year.
“I think once you put something with the ethics commission, you have a duty to see it though,” said Lebanon's new city attorney, Mark Yurick. “If there has been anything criminal or quasi-criminal, then there's sort of an obligation to follow it through. ... It may sound hokey, but there really is a sacred trust between taxpayers and public officials.”
Mr. Yurick has hired William Gustavson, a former Cincinnati safety director and a partner in the law firm Gustavson Lewis and Jones, to help with the city's investigation into how the buyouts were handled and how the money can be recovered, Mr. Yurick said Wednesday. Mr. Gustavson will be paid $125 an hour.
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