COLUMBIA -- In a four to nothing vote Wednesday, Columbia City Council approved a controversial plan appointing Assistant City Manager Allison Baker to Interim City Manager. He's temporarily taking over for current city manager Steve Gantt, who is retiring Friday.
However; Gantt is expected to be rehired in the coming days. The temporary retirement is required for Gantt under the state's TERI, or Teacher and Employee Retention Incentive program.
The program allows public employees to collect taxpayer-funded retirement benefits while they remain on the job and also collect their full salary. Gantt is currently paid more than $135,000 by city taxpayers in addition to his retirement benefits. The law requires TERI employees to quit their jobs after five years. However, by "retiring" from the city a quirk in the law allows Gantt to be hired back in 15 days.
The program's critics describe it as double-dipping on the back of taxpayers. State Comptroller General Richard Eckstrom said Wednesday it's an expensive, poorly conceived program.
"The state approved TERI without really thinking about the real cost of it was," Eckstrom said.
Council's support for Gantt's "temporary" retirement particularly angers critics because they say it's a waste of taxpayer dollars. The move to allow Gantt to collect both retirement and a full salary from the taxpayers at the same time comes on the heels of council proposing earlier this year to increase property taxes and water rates for city residents.
"It's that approach that really gets up into the kind of budget crisis we're in right now," Eckstrom adds.
Allison Baker takes over as interim city manager Friday. There is no word when Gantt will be formally back on Columbia's payroll.
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