County employees rush to retire in wake of state budget action

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Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:


March 11, 2011 11:14 a.m. | Veteran Milwaukee County workers have been flooding the county's retirement office this week in hopes of quickly retiring in the mistaken belief they could lose lump-sum "backdrop" and other pension benefits as a result of the legislative approval and signing of Gov. Scott Walker's budget-repair bill, officials said Friday.

"We are being inundated with walk-ins," said Gerry Schroeder, the county's acting employee benefits manager. He said 10 county workers rushed to his office Thursday demanding to immediately retire. He said more were doing the same Friday.

Normally, the retirement office makes appointments to discuss retirement and pension details, Schroeder said. Although retirement counselors in his office tried to assure those who rushed to retire that the budget-repair measure would not alter their pensions, many insisted on signing retirement papers immediately, he said.

He said retirements had roughly doubled over the past year from about 20 per month to 40, as the county sought to rein in pension benefits and charge more for health care and pension contributions. The number seeking to retire in recent months jumped to 60 or 70 per month, as Walker proposed eliminating most collective bargaining for public employee unions, Schroeder said.