Bell City Manager Received $1.5 Million/Year

Our own LCR did a yeoman's job on helping to publish the outrageous compensation given to politicians in the small California city of Bell, with a median income of $29K/ year, with the city manager apparently paid a $787,000 annual salary. It gets worse.

Former Bell City Manager Robert Rizzo, whose $787,000 salary prompted widespread outrage, received an unusually large package of benefits that increased his annual compensation to more than $1.5 million, according to city records reviewed by The Times.

Rizzo's benefits package -- which covers time off as well as retirement, medical and other types of insurance -- shows he was paid for time off that amounted to more than 20 weeks per year.

One and a half million dollars and yet he took off twenty weeks of vacation and sick time? Nice work if you can get it, I guess!

The records say Rizzo was to receive $386,786 in paid vacation and sick benefits this year on top of his base salary. Casso said city officials were still trying to understand the compensation agreement. But the documents appear to show Rizzo was being paid for 107 vacation days and 36 sick days a year. The documents show the city paid $48,996 annually into Rizzo’s deferred compensation plans.

Bell also paid $20,496 into Rizzo’s 457 plan, which is similar to a 401(k) for government employees. According to Rizzo’s contract, the city was to pay the full amount of his 457 plan in the first 10 days of the year, meaning he could benefit from an entire year of interest or investment gains.

h/t DEAD TREE NEWSPAPER (Stockton Record)

Cross posted at Left Coast Rebel, Say Anything, Lady Cincinnatus