Tampa police chief would ‘retire’ — and still earn a $241,000 salary as chief
www.tampabay.com
The mayor wants Lee Bercaw to be able to collect his $96,000 annual pension while serving as chief until at least 2027.

The city has drafted an agreement that would allow Lee Bercaw, a 28-year veteran with the force, to[retire and then] immediately be hired back by the city as a contractor to continue serving as chief after he retires in September.

The maneuver would allow him to cash in on an annual pension payment worth at least $96,000 while continuing to collect one of the largest paychecks in city government. The proposal, which includes a double-digit pay raise, is set to go before the Tampa City Council later this week.

He would earn a $241,000 salary per year plus benefits such as annual leave, health insurance and sick pay. He also would be entitled to pay bumps associated with annual performance reviews and for cost-of living increases applicable to other city management employees.

Archived at https://web.archive.org/web/20240404123300/https://www.tampabay.com/news/tampa/2024/04/02/police-department-chief-lee-bercaw-retire-remain-in-charge-mayor-jane-castor-tpd/

    • gibmiser@lemmy.world
      46·
      7 months ago

      I’m sure he provides more worth to that community than an extra 3 teachers. I’m sure there is no better use of that money, they must really need that man to be willing to overpay him so much…

        • TowardsTheFuture@lemmy.zipEnglish
          11·
          7 months ago

          Nah those are charter schools.

          Hillsborough pays worse: 47.5k for the first 10 years and then it starts going up. 60k is 25 years of experience.

          (Pay starts on page 9)

          https://www.hillsboroughschools.org//cms/lib/FL50000635/Centricity/Domain/3220/23-24Employee_Salary_Schedules.pdf

          Edit: note if you want to count out teacher benefits it’s maybe ~10k per teacher, with 3% to retirement and then like 8.8k for medical. Add the pay roll tax, the $300 a year for supplies, and $600 extra pay for for ~25-30 hours of training every year (get paid maybe $20-25/hr for trainings instead of full amount) and you’re at like $62,300 per teacher in total cost to the county. Note I’m ignoring teacher incentive pay as he also gets it and it’s likely proportional so, I’m ignoring that. But yeah that is minimum 5.5 full cost teachers for just his direct salary+pension.

      • fuego@lemmy.ca
        16·
        7 months ago

        Yeah, but we need cops because of what happens in places like CHAZ.