"Bigwigs didn't win as big in pension plan"

This Milwaukee Journal Sentinel headline is about fuzzy math, fuzzy words, fuzzy reporting:

"Bigwigs didn't win as big in pension plan"

I take that to mean that the Milwaukee County bigwigs really didn't benefit that much from the pension plan.

That's not so.

So many other county employees benefited from the plan as well that the totals make it appear that the bigwigs didn't benefit big time in comparison.

Although a few Milwaukee County big shots took home big six-figure pension backdrops, moderately paid county employees have snared the lion’s share of the larger lump sum pension payments since the controversial benefit took effect more than seven years ago.

An analysis of county retirement data since 2001 shows 178 social workers collected almost $29 million in backdrop lump sums, more than any other category of county retirees. That’s $7 million more in backdrop money than was paid to the next largest category — professionals and elected officials, the analysis shows.

As a group, the social workers had average backdrop payments of about $161,000, though 47 social workers had backdrops of a quarter-million dollars or more.

...Overall, 1,082 people — about 45% of all retirees since 2001 — have collected backdrop payments as part of their pensions, county records show. Of those, 161 got lump sums of $250,000 or more; 18 had backdrops of $500,000 or more.

This is playing with numbers and averages.

The county has far fewer "bigwigs" than moderately paid employees. That doesn't mean the big shots didn't pocket huge sums of money when they retired.

Just because as a group the "lion's share" was paid out to the little guys that doesn't take the heat off.

...Most social workers never made more than $50,000 a year on the job, and many earned considerably less, said Beth Werve, president of the union representing most county social workers. Some social workers said they often put in long hours for which they were never compensated and worked many years with minimal or no raises.

When the backdrop and related pension enhancers were offered by the county in contract negotiations in 2000, union leaders and members were stunned and puzzled. The benefit was unfamiliar and hadn’t been requested, they said.

“God bless Tom Ament,” joked Thomas M. Schultz, a social worker who put in 34 years with the county before he retired in 2004. “They screwed up, that’s all. We didn’t ask for it.”

...“What was I supposed to do, turn it down?” Schultz said. He and others emphasized that the benefit, while unexpected and later subjected to severe criticism, was legally approved for retirees.

...“It’s like a nice security blanket,” said Schultz. “I don’t worry about money like I used to.”

Janet Salick left the county after 33 years as a social worker, working mostly with troubled juveniles. She said her $327,000 backdrop helped. She also gets a $1,681 monthly pension payment.

“It’s nice to have a little extra,” she said. “It makes life a little bit easier.”

She said she was grateful for the benefit and doesn’t feel she got any undeserved advantage. Like most employees who take a backdrop, Salick had hers rolled over into an IRA. She noted that as she withdraws the money, “a lot of that is going for taxes.”

In other words, the pension plan was really a good thing.

It's made life a little bit easier for the moderately paid county workers, a nice security blanket.

The pension plan didn't turn out to be about bigwigs grabbing big bucks. Don't think of it that way.

And don't be angry about the millions and millions being paid out. The retirees are grateful. They feel they deserve the money.

The Journal Sentinel wants you to reconsider how the pension plan is playing out. The scandal was overblown. It's all legal and a worthy redistribution of wealth.

"God bless Tom Ament."

Right.