Milwaukee County executive calls for major overhaul of pension system, some critical of his plan

MILWAUKEE -- Milwaukee County Executive Chris Abele is calling for a major overhaul to the county's pension system due to a growing number of errors -- and that's being met with criticism.

Abele said the current system is beyond repair, and comprehensive reform is the only way to protect retirees, employees and taxpayers in Milwaukee County. He said some of the mistakes date back to the 1980s, and this problem requires swift change.

"Right now, we're looking at more and we're finding more errors," Abele said.

One of those mistakes involved the widow of a Milwaukee County deputy, who was overpaid $140,000 due to an administrative error, -- and she could be forced to pay it back. County officials want to get that money and funds from other potential over-payments back by garnishing future checks.

Abele is calling for a change to the current pension system that services 180 different classes of retirees. As a result, there are 180 different ways to calculate benefits.

According to an internal memo, there have been mistakes totaling more than $2 million since 2000.

"These are avoidable errors. If we don't change the management, which is really complicated in this system, we're going to keep getting errors like this," Abele said.

Abele wants an outside auditor to take a look at the books, and he has floated the idea of shifting county pensions to the state level. It's unclear whether the state would be willing to take on that responsibility, but Abele said no matter what, retirees will get what they're owed.

"When I got here six years ago, I thought we could address all of the issues within the current pension system. I don't think that now," Abele said.

Below is the full statement from Abele's office:

Rick Badger, AFSCME Council 32 executive director issued this statement:

Below is a statement from Milwaukee County Board Chairman Theo Lipscomb: