A tale of public pensions: How a $60k salary becomes $4m in payments

After more than two decades working in Miami Beach’s 911 call center, Pamela Kindle wanted her golden parachute.

Her $60,000-a-year job would provide a modest pension for retirement, but Kindle wanted more. So, she launched into a “marathon” of overtime, racking up an extra 50 hours of work a week during her final two years on the job.

When she retired in 2002, Kindle did so with a $150,000 taxpayer-supported pension. Yearly increases have pumped up her pension to more than $182,000.

“I earned my money,” said Kindle, 63, who says the city helped create her pension by perennially understaffing the call center. “I worked hard.”

By the time she reaches her mid-70s, the city’s pension fund will have paid her $4,074,000 in her golden years.

Scores of South Florida city employees, particularly police and firefighters, have recently retired in their mid to late 40s or early 50s with six-figure pensions, the result of generous pay and benefits packages that are now costing taxpayers tens of millions of dollars a year.

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Comments

[MYTHOUGHT]

PURE GREED-AND LIKE WALL STREET-THESE PEOPLE WILL NEVER ACKNOWLEDGE THE WORLD HAS CHANGED AROUND THEM-UNTIL THEY WAKE ONE MORNING-AND FIND THE DEEP BLUE SEA OF REALITY HAS SWEPT THEM AWAY! I WAS A GREAT WINNER AT GAMBLING-BUT ASIDE FROM SHARING THE MONEY I WON, I LOOKED AROUND AND SAW THE WORLD GETTING WORSE AND WORSE-IT DEPRESSED ME- I GAVE UP GAMBLING! THIS LADY, ALSO-SHOULD JUST QUIT THE NONSENSE-YOU CANNOT LIVE IN LUXURY WHEN ALL ABOUT LIES IN RUINATION....

[MYTHOUGHT]

YOUR CHILDREN HAVE TAKEN TO THE STREETS AGAIN-AND IT SHOULD BE AS A WARNING AND A SIGN OF THE TIMES-THE WINDS OF CHANGE ARE GATHERING. YOU DON'T NEED A WEATHERMAN TO KNOW WHICH DIRECTION THE WIND IS BLOWING---IT SWEEPS THE NEW YORK STREETS-AND SHAKES THE IVORY TOWERS..!

[Dave Horne]

your CAP LOCK key is stuck.

[OPM]

Disallow spiking like this and do not start payments until person reaches 65

[wow]

Who the heck let her rack up this kind of overtime. That is criminal.

[AntiTallahassee]

Teachers do not get anything like these pensions. They get 1.6% times the number of years service - that's 48% of salary (average of top 5 years) for 30 years of service. It's a shame that the governor and his political allies want to lump teachers in with these state and municipal scam artists.
However, I do not blame the employees. Their supervisors are incompetent, and they should be fired. I think the lady has a point about under staffing - it's a management problem.
The same is true in education. Administrators do not do their jobs and the teachers are blamed for everything. They also will pay the cost for the incompetence of the admin/management and the politicians.

[Kim Newlin]

the state rules say that the max overtime to count is up to 300 hours, it appears she got credit for many more?????? Did Personnel or Human Resources screw up and not know the rules?

[huggy]

I guess making that kind of money is only reserved to our Legislators and high ranking officials in Tallahassee. 1 for the little guys. Good job!!

[Jamie]

Did any of you read that this is a CITY government employee who worked for MIAMI.

How is it that in the coporate world this kind of behavior is acceptable, encouraged even, and what the "market will pay" but when a municipal employee makes the most of the system for herself, she's a terrible person.

Don't hate the player, hate the game. Then get involved and change it with your vote!

[join pak army]

Your blog contains a lot of valuable information. You tried to share useful information in easy words.

[magoo]

To OPM....sure you want 65 y/o cops and fireman coming to your assistance.

To Kim Newlin: the 300hrs was just voted in on this years legislation. Obviously after she retired. Know your facts.