When you ask the City of Tallahassee about the salaries of appointed officials, you will not get the true measure of the taxpayer burden without seeking further clarification. It appears the City of Tallahassee is misleading the citizens about the taxpayer burden of various officials by providing salary information instead of compensation. Until the recent […]
State Attorney Willie Meggs, after an investigation, concluded that the City of Tallahassee did not violate any law or ordinance related to pension calculations implemented after the 2005 controversial vote on deferred compensation. In a letter to local businessman Erwin Jackson, who asked for the review, a State Attorney investigator wrote: the City Commission’s decision […]
In a convoluted decision that is sure to keep the controversy surrounding the pension payments of former City Commissioner Debbie Lightsey alive, the City’s Independent Ethics Board dismissed a complaint filed by local businessman Erwin Jackson, but called for further investigation. The Ethics Officer, Julie Meadows-Keefe, recommended the compliant be dismissed “without investigation because it […]
TR has learned that the City of Tallahassee’s Independent Ethics Board has begun an investigation into the pension payments being made to former City Commissioner Debbie Lightsey. The Executive Director of the Ethics Board, Julie Meadows-Keefe, provides a status of complaints and investigations each month. This months report, which is part of the agenda to […]
Six years after the City Commission voted to end deferred compensation – the practice of augmenting Commissioner salaries with $20,000 – one former City Commissioner continues to receive financial benefits every month due to the program, even though she retired after the program was voted down. This is how. The City of Tallahassee’s Charter says […]
Data from a public record request submitted by tallahasseereports.com to the City of Gainesville indicates that there is a significant disparity between the cash benefits of the elected leaders in Gainesville and Tallahassee. The City of Gainesville has a Mayor and six City Commissioners who work part-time. The Mayor makes $39,000 a year and the […]
The ongoing investigation by Tallahassee Reports into the April 13, 2005 vote that increased City Commissioner compensation by approximately $21,000 continues to uncover new details. Discussions with city officials has revealed that the initial report that the elected officials received employer paid deferred compensation and that appointed officials received employee paid compensation was incorrect. In fact, both the appointed […]
The research into the deferred compensation issue continues to reveal new information. Today, Commissioner Mark Mustian, the only Commissioner that voted against the measure, stated the following: I saw the deferred compensation as an increase in salary and my view was that is was something that needed to be addressed in the City Charter. Further research has […]
The investigation and research into the April 13, 2005 vote by the City Commission, which resulted in an approximate increase of $22,000 in City Commissioner compensation, continues to reveal new details and raise troubling questions. Tallahassee Reports has learned that the elected City Commissioners are the only city employees who receive employer paid deferred compensation. The benefit afforded […]