Panel balks at study to join pension system

A key Milwaukee County Board panel balked at a supervisor’s resolution to study the feasibility of transferring the troubled county pension system to the state.

Supervisor Sheldon Wasserman’s resolution asks the County Board to authorize a special work group to identify steps needed for a transition to the Wisconsin Retirement System and submit a report in May. All other counties in Wisconsin use the state system.

After the finance committee’s decision Thursday, Wasserman said he will seek the full board’s support for his resolution at its March 23 meeting. If approved, the work group would include representatives of the retirement plan services office, the comptroller and corporation counsel.

On Wednesday, County Executive Chris Abele called for comprehensive reform of the problemprone county system and he acknowledged that might lead to joining the state system.

The County Board considered a similar transfer of the county pension system to the state in 2010. The proposal was not adopted at that time.

Wasserman’s proposal and Abele’s call for an overhaul of the county system follow the public disclosure last month of a 2014 report to the IRS. The report details hundreds of pension errors that will cost the the county nearly $2.2 million to correct.

In February, former county retirement plan services director Marian Ninneman resigned after failing to correct an ongoing overpayment to one beneficiary that amounted to $140,000 over several years. Ninneman had been informed of the overpayments to the widow of Sheriff’s Deputy Sergio Aleman three years earlier but failed to correct the mistake.

After those revelations, Abele hired Baker Tilly to conduct an independent audit of pension benefit calculations.

A preliminary audit report is expected in June, acting Corporation Counsel Margaret Daun said.

Abele has appointed Amy Pechacek as interim director of county retirement plan services. She is director of risk management for the county.

On Wasserman’s resolution, Supervisor Michael Mayo Sr. said he would prefer to focus on improving the county system to prevent future pension mistakes, rather than starting with a study of switching to the state.

The county pension system is one of the most complex retirement plans in the U.S., officials said.

Milwaukee County provides 180 different pension plan variations — based on date of hire, length of service, and collective bargaining units — while the Wisconsin Retirement System has only four variations.

About 8,200 county retirees receive a pension check each month.