Childers Lawsuit Dismissed In Fight Over Escambia Retirement Plan

July 6, 2022

A judge has ruled in favor of Escambia County in a countersuit by Escambia County Clerk Pam Childers over a retirement plan involving commissioners that does not cost the taxpayers anything.

Childers and the Escambia County Commission are battling over whether the county’s 401(a) annuity plan is in fact legal for elected officials and senior management. In late July 2021, Childers asserted that the state has told her that the county’s 401(a) annuity plan is illegal.

Okaloosa County Circuit Court Judge William Stone found that Childers’ suit is “almost wholly duplicative” of the lawsuit filed first by the BOCC against the clerk.

Childers claimed that as auditor of county funds, she is required by law to refuse to process an unlawful payment.  She stopped making retirement plan payments for Commissioners Steven Barry, Robert Bender and Lumon May in January 2022 and sought an order requiring the commissioners to return previous payments.

The county, however, has asserted the plan is legal and Childers must disburse funds as lawfully directed.

The ruling dismissing Childers’ lawsuit means Escambia County’s lawsuit will move forward in ultimately deciding the issue.

“In the pleadings and arguments regarding this case the parties have spent a lot of time addressing personal and political disagreements, which from this Court’s disimpassioned analysis, are not germane to resolving the legal issues presented in this case,” Stone wrote. “At the heart of this controversy is the legal question of whether the County’s local retirement plan is unlawful as to elected officials.”

401(a) Annuity Program

It’s called a 401(a) annuity program, and under state statute was offered only to senior management service employees and commissioners that opt out of the Florida Retirement System (FRS). It’s available statewide, not just in Escambia County.

The plan does not cost Escambia County taxpayers anything extra when contributions are made in a timely fashion; the employee contributions are exactly the same whether or not the money goes into FRS or the annuity program. FRS has significant administrative overhead and fund liability that is funded from employee contributions. The 401(a) annuity plan participant costs are lower, so participants can earn significantly more retirement dollars.

Escambia County has offered a 401(a) annuity program to senior management employees and elected officials since 1997.

Comments

6 Responses to “Childers Lawsuit Dismissed In Fight Over Escambia Retirement Plan”

  1. Frank Smith on July 10th, 2022 1:02 am

    The commenter who said this was a political hit job by Doug Underhill is probably correct. I’ve watched that guy do ruthless divisive things for years, and honestly I’m shocked Pam Childers would have allowed herself to be played by him like this.

    Hopefully in Rep. Michelle Salzman’s next term she will push for term limits on the Board of County Commissioners and the Clerk’s office like she was able to do to ECUA. We need fresh voices in those seats too. They have all resorted to infighting and power grabs. Their drama has to stop before ALL of our tax dollars go to lawyers.

  2. Not So Fast on July 9th, 2022 9:15 am

    @ Citizen the Judge has not ruled it is legal yet for elected officials. That will be his next ruling.

  3. SueB on July 8th, 2022 9:10 am

    Governor to approved time limits for all Escambia County Commissioners & Senior Management.

  4. A.L. on July 8th, 2022 6:25 am

    Bewildered nailed it by calling this a “fat cat” benefit. I put in 33 years as a “high risk” employee with FRS and upon retirement, I still had to obtain a second job to pay my health insurance and what little was left on my morgage. The only light at the end of the tunnel will be my SS check and enrollment into Medicare. I won’t be comfortable, I’ll be manageable. We can only be blessed that my wife and I don’t have any serious medical issues sice the only affordable plan was the high deductable one.

    Thank you FRS for screwing the little guy and our county government for lining their pockets. Time to run for County Commissioner.

  5. Citizen on July 6th, 2022 4:50 pm

    Yes 401a legal. Contributions by the taxpayers of Escambia the same for this one time pay out or the FRS with lifetime benefits and beneficiaries.

    Political hit job by Underhill and his zombies, but Childers played along too as well as the idiot cartoonist at PNJ and the facebook propaganda site ECW.
    Interesting recommendation in the ongoing ethics saga too.

  6. Bewildered on July 6th, 2022 3:08 pm

    No idea why Childers even filed the suit. All the top management positions covered under the Florida Retirement System have been and are getting this „fat cat“ benefit. The rich get richer upon retirement and the working class stays where they belong. Not anything new or surprising

Written by William Reynolds · Filed Under News