Bulletin: Auburn City Manager John Salomone turned in his leased city vehicle and will now use his own car for city business.
The city spent approximately $6,700 annually to lease a vehicle for him and will now pay him a $6,000 annual car allowance that hell receive in his paycheck. Hmm.
A simplistic view of this $6,000 is to assume that gas costs $3 per gallon; his vehicle gets 20 mpg and he works 50 weeks #) which works out that hell drive 800 miles per week. 800 miles? Not a chance.
Asked why he made this change, his reply was I dont really have a comment on that.
The reason, I believe, Mr. Salomone doesnt care to comment is that it may prove to be a bit embarrassing.
First, why did he wait six years to do this if he really wanted to help the city save money?
Second, it looks like he may make much more in the long run than the $700 annual savings the city will realize.
Answer to the first issue: When Walter Sullivan retired in 2005 as the Skaneateles schools superintendent with an unbelievable $127,534 retirement pension that included about $31,000 in additional benefits, he was persuading the erudite Skaneateles school board to give him lump money the district would have paid for his benefits into his salary. So Salomone probably wasnt aware of this state retirement system scam until 2005.
But somehow, we cant completely blame (nor exonerate) Salomone for gaming Auburn and the retirement system what he did is legal. It is New York that is guilty of not correcting this ongoing egregious padding of pensions.
Answer to the second issue: The state calculates retirement pay based on ones highest salary (at about 50 percent of the last three years or so). In getting an extra $6,000 per year lumped into his base salary calculations, hell get about an extra $3,000 a year in a state tax free pension.
So he saves the city $700 a year by not leasing a car but hell make approximately an additional $3,000 a year in retirement benefits and he gave himself a $6,000 raise to boot. Smooth move, John.
Psst: You Auburn city slickers and Albany boys and girls feel free to jump in anytime and correct this blood-letting scam. But only if you feel its unjust and may bankrupt Auburn or New York.
Otherwise, just sit back, slap each other on the back and keep drinking your own bathwater. So what if the state retirement system is a little under funded. Thats the next administrations problem, right? Ah, spoken like true GWB lackeys!
Its quite unfortunate that Mr. Salomone abided by only one of Will Rogers quotes, namely America is a land of opportunity and dont forget it, and not another of his gems: If you find yourself in a hole, stop digging.
Its your money.
A simplistic view of this $6,000 is to assume that gas costs $3 per gallon; his vehicle gets 20 mpg and he works 50 weeks #) which works out that hell drive 800 miles per week. 800 miles? Not a chance.
Asked why he made this change, his reply was I dont really have a comment on that.
The reason, I believe, Mr. Salomone doesnt care to comment is that it may prove to be a bit embarrassing.
First, why did he wait six years to do this if he really wanted to help the city save money?
Second, it looks like he may make much more in the long run than the $700 annual savings the city will realize.
Answer to the first issue: When Walter Sullivan retired in 2005 as the Skaneateles schools superintendent with an unbelievable $127,534 retirement pension that included about $31,000 in additional benefits, he was persuading the erudite Skaneateles school board to give him lump money the district would have paid for his benefits into his salary. So Salomone probably wasnt aware of this state retirement system scam until 2005.
But somehow, we cant completely blame (nor exonerate) Salomone for gaming Auburn and the retirement system what he did is legal. It is New York that is guilty of not correcting this ongoing egregious padding of pensions.
Answer to the second issue: The state calculates retirement pay based on ones highest salary (at about 50 percent of the last three years or so). In getting an extra $6,000 per year lumped into his base salary calculations, hell get about an extra $3,000 a year in a state tax free pension.
So he saves the city $700 a year by not leasing a car but hell make approximately an additional $3,000 a year in retirement benefits and he gave himself a $6,000 raise to boot. Smooth move, John.
Psst: You Auburn city slickers and Albany boys and girls feel free to jump in anytime and correct this blood-letting scam. But only if you feel its unjust and may bankrupt Auburn or New York.
Otherwise, just sit back, slap each other on the back and keep drinking your own bathwater. So what if the state retirement system is a little under funded. Thats the next administrations problem, right? Ah, spoken like true GWB lackeys!
Its quite unfortunate that Mr. Salomone abided by only one of Will Rogers quotes, namely America is a land of opportunity and dont forget it, and not another of his gems: If you find yourself in a hole, stop digging.
Its your money.
The Citizens' Say
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