George Reggo: "If I didn't do a good job, they wouldn't reappoint me."

We all know the job (favors) he has been doing in Lodi and why the political machine will always keep him around.

The above Reggo quotes came from this 2005 Record Article:

 

Public pension practice under fire

PETER J. SAMPSON and ADRIENNE LU, STAFF WRITERs
The Record (Bergen County, NJ)
12-11-2005

If attorney Stanley Turitz retired now, he would enjoy an $89,000 pension partially funded by taxpayers in the three towns he works for.

That's exactly the type of multi-job payout that has alarmed a state panel appointed by acting Governor Codey.

The practice of "tacking," when a public employee works multiple jobs to make more money and gain a bigger pension, needs to stop, according to the Benefits Review Task Force. The payouts put pressure on the entire system because the contributions made by the employer and employee over the years are not enough to cover the benefit, task force members said in a 60-page report.

But Turitz doesn't want to be considered the poster child for tacking. He said his benefits - and $230,000 combined salaries - are justified because he and his firm provide a range of services that save money for his employers in the long run. He's school board attorney for Ridgefield and Little Ferry and municipal counsel in Teaneck.

"I'm not different than any other employee who negotiates a compensation package for services to be rendered," he said.

But not everyone agrees with the payouts.

"I think it has to be curbed," said state Sen. Peter A. Inverso, R-Mercer, who has tried - without success so far - to address the issue of tacking in legislation. "I think it leads many times to inordinate pension awards."

The task force recommended that only one public salary be counted toward the pension calculation. It also said lawyers and other professional service vendors who are retained under public contracts should not be eligible for pensions.

Such reforms could have dramatic repercussions across North Jersey, where it is not uncommon for professionals to hold public jobs in several municipalities.

"That's ridiculous," said Joseph Iannaconi Jr., in response to the task force's call to end tacking.

Iannaconi works as a tax collector, chief financial officer and/or treasurer in Fort Lee, Englewood Cliffs, Edgewater, Ridgefield and North Arlington. His salary last year totaled more than $216,000 from his public jobs, and he doesn't believe there's anything wrong with taking multiple salaries - and the pensions that come with them. His benefit will reach $101,000 when he becomes eligible in 2007.

"You take these positions because there's a demand and a need," he said. 

"One of the results is that your pension base is increased, but you don't do that deliberately just to increase your pension base."

Iannaconi said that in his 23 years working for municipalities, he has always been required to contribute into the pension system. He works hard at his jobs, too, he said, frequently working until 7 at night and most weekends, without ever receiving overtime or comp time.

He has noticed that over the past 10 years or so, certain professionals who usually receive fees for their services, such as attorneys, have been receiving pensionable salaries instead. Fees do not contribute to pension calculations.

They see nothing wrong

Brian Townsend is another worker with multiple public jobs contributing to his pension. As the full-time tax assessor in West Milford and the part-time assessor in three other Passaic County communities - Bloomingdale, Haledon and Wanaque - he makes almost $130,000.

At 47, Townsend has been in the Public Employees' Retirement System for 21 years and has no plans of retiring anytime soon.

"There was never an intention of looking down the road and trying to boost my pension in any way," Townsend said. "It's merely opportunities that came about as I was growing in the profession," he said of his part-time jobs.

But when it comes to multiplicity, tax assessor George Reggo takes the prize. He holds the record with 10 Bergen towns, including Englewood Cliffs, Hasbrouck Heights and Lodi, which contribute to a $154,812 salary.

"How do I do it? I do it and, you know, I'm very efficient," said Reggo, noting he has won tenure in most of his towns after his initial four-year appointment. "If I didn't do a good job, they wouldn't reappoint me."

Reggo, who has 14 years of service in the pension system, said he sees nothing wrong with what he is doing. As an independent tax assessor, he's built up his practice by working for multiple towns.

The state Treasury Department does not provide estimates for those officials, such as Townsend and Reggo, who are still far away from retirement eligibility - generally age 60 or 25 years of service.

Not looking to punish

Philip D. Murphy, a retired Wall Street executive who chaired the pension task force, said the panel is not looking to punish the genuinely "industrious" employee or anyone who must work multiple jobs to make ends meet.

But, if the sole purpose is to cobble jobs together to raise their pension level, that is unconscionable, he said.

Asked how one could tell who is taking advantage of the system, Murphy said, "The way you determine whether someone's doing it is you tell them they can only count one of the jobs toward the pension."

He argued that if the task force recommendation were enacted, some people would end up taking on a lot fewer jobs.

Murphy said the panel also found it "offensive" that lawyers are able to get pension credit for work performed by others in their law firms.
Not everyone agrees. Turitz, a partner in the Hackensack law firm of 
Ferrara, Turitz, Harraka & Goldberg, has been eligible to retire since he hit 60 two years ago, but has no plans to stop working. He acknowledged that "some of the research work is performed by subordinates and associates," and other lawyers will cover meetings when he's unavailable.

"The fact that the school board and the municipality receive full law firm services is a benefit, not a detriment. There's 24/7 coverage," he said.
Before lawmakers make any move to eliminate pension eligibility for attorneys, they should closely study the fiscal impact of the issue, he said.

Like Turitz, Herbert Klitzner, who works as North Bergen's attorney and Union City's school board attorney, said pension contributions should be adjusted if the system isn't collecting sufficient amounts to support employees with multiple jobs. He'd get more than $83,000 if he retired now.

"I think the pension system has to be self-sustaining. It can't be running a deficit," said Klitzner, adding he has no problem with a recommendation to base the pension benefit on the five highest years of salary instead of three, as it is now.

But he said any changes must be fair to those who have relied on the rules.

"If they want to change it prospectively and set new rules for the future, then that's fine."