Arizona: Loophole allows workers to double dip, take taxpayer cash
According to the ABC15.com:
After 37 years, DPS Deputy Director David Felix is calling it quits.
"I want someone to tell me I haven't earned that retirement," Felix said.
Well, not really.
"I'm starting as a new employee," Felix said, a new employee right back at the Department of Public Safety.
He said he's taking a $37,000 pay cut and a reduced rank, but he will actually be making more than before his retirement.
That's because Felix is collecting his $70,000 a year pension plus a $100,000 salary for his new position.
"When the officer reaches that mark, he retires, and he should move on, " said Bryan Soller, President of the Arizona State Fraternal Order of Police.
"It looks like you want your cake and eat it too," Soller said.
What Felix is doing is completely legal.
Douple dipping is common practice here in Arizona, but lawmakers say it's a loophole they're trying to close.
They plan on introducing legislation next year.
There's already one limitation.
Once you retire, you cannot come back to the same job, but that wasn't always the case.
Maricopa County's Chief Deputy Dave Hendershott retired in the late 1990s and was immediately rehired into the same post.... click to continue.
