Actually, County Comptroller Could Get $1.3 Million Backdrop

County Comptroller Scott Manske.

Last week Urban Milwaukee reported that County Comptroller Scott Manske would collect a lump sum backdrop payment of about $700,000 by by the end of his current term in April 2024, which would increase to nearly $1.1 million if he is reelected and serves another four years.

It turns out that estimate was too low — and by quite a bit. Under the complicated county pension laws, Manske has a annual pension multiplier of 2% per year rather than 1.6% (used in last week’s computation) for most of his first 20 years on the job.

The county Retirement Plan Services office does not compute any backdrop for employees until they retire. It’s a byzantine system, because so many different pension laws and reforms have been passed over a period of many decades. The county’s Pension 101 document for employees estimates there are are 2,304 different calculations of the pension that can be made.

Manske, 66, began his employment with Milwaukee County in the position of controller in January 1992 and was eligible to claim retirement by January 2012, when under the “rule of 75” he had 20 years of employment and was 55 years old. The sooner you claim retirement, the sooner you can start the backdrop clock running, letting your monthly pension payments pile up with compounded interest.

For nearly 18 years of his Manske’s employment he could take a multiplier of 2%, but under a change in the law that dropped to 1.6% as of January 1, 2010, according to Erika Bronikowski, Director of Retirement Plan Services for the county.

This means Manske would be eligible to collect not 32% of his final average salary (or 1.6% times 20 years) as we computed last week, but 37.96% (about 1.9% times 20 years) of his final average salary of $108,858 (a figure that’s been slightly reduced based on three years of salary data provided by Bronikowski). That’s $41,322 per year or $3,443 per month.

Under the backdrop rules Manske could, as of April 2024, collect 12 years and three months of that monthly pension, compounded by 7.5% interest, the current assumed rate of growth for the pension fund used by the county. This would grow to about $820,000 over that period. Should he be reelected in 2024 that would grow to $1.3 million after he served his four year term. In addition he would also collect a monthly pension totaling some $41,322 per year — under either scenario.

Meaning the taxpayers would save $485,000 if Manske is not reelected.

There is more than a little irony to the fact that Manske would collect such a pension. The position of comptroller was created by the state Legislature in 2011 at the urging of then-County Executive Chris Abele and civic groups like the Greater Milwaukee Committee, who argued that an independently elected comptroller would have discovered that the infamous pension plan of 2000-2001, which included the lucrative backdrop, would have huge costs for the county.

Manske is credited by many observers with doing a good job of overseeing county finances, and was reelected without opposition in 2016 and 2020. Little did voters know that the comptroller’s own pension might be a notable contributor to the county’s fiscal woes.

An employee can, of course, waive the backdrop and take a standard pension. With the higher 2% multiplier Manske would get for nearly the first 18 years of his employment, this would give him a very generous pension of about $75,000 per year for the rest of his life. But when asked, Manske told Urban Milwaukee, “I did not sign a waiver of the backdrop pension benefit.”

He declined to comment on the size of his potential backdrop.

If Manske did serve another term and gains a $1.3 million backdrop, it would stand as the fourth highest such payment ever awarded by Milwaukee County, as the list compiled by a prior Urban Milwaukee story shows. Even the lower $820,000 payoff would be among the top 25 payoffs ever.

The backdrop’s lucrative payout led to a months-long controversy that erupted in 2002 and led to the forced retirement of then-County Executive Tom Ament (who faced a recall effort) and several of his cabinet officers. In addition seven county supervisors were recalled from office.

The recall movement was led by the Citizens for Responsible Government, co-founded by Chris Kliesmet, and who responded to Urban Milwaukee’s request for comment on Manske’s backdrop, calling it the direct result of an “unethical” law passed by the county. “It reminds us all of the importance of becoming informed and then showing up at the polls because the consequences of that vote can be ruinously expensive not just for you but for your children and generations to come.”

The county is likely to be paying huge payouts for the 2000-2001 pension sweeteners until at least 2045, Urban Milwaukee has reported.

Manske has not disclosed whether he intends to run for election. “I have not announced any retirement date,” he told Urban Milwaukee.

County Supervisor Liz Sumner announced in June that she is running for the position, as Urban Milwaukee reported. As for Manske’s lucrative backdrop, she declined to offer any criticism: “I think whatever he chooses to do for retirement purposes is his business,” she said.