NEW: Providence Council Backs Disability Pension Audit
Monday, June 20, 2011
The Providence City Council has voted in favor of an independent audit of disability pensions given out to city employees.
“We need an independent, third-party review of the disability pension system so that the Council and taxpayers can be confident that proper procedures and controls are in place to make sure that those receiving these pensions are truly unable to work,” said Councilman David Salvatore.
“It is necessary to get someone from outside the system to review the system fairly and thoroughly so that if changes need to be made, we can do that in order to save money for the city in this time of financial crisis.”
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The call for an audit comes after a Channel 12 investigation caught a retired firefighter on a disability pension weight-lifting. GoLocalProv has also reported that 26 out of the top 30 city retirees are on tax-free disability pensions, many of them retiring between 1988 and 1991, when 8 out of every 10 retiring firefighter received a disability pension.
Last week, the council voted unanimously in favor of Salvatore’s resolution to conduct an outside audit and tonight it is expected to authorize $25,000 for the work. The audit will focus on “irregularities” of the system.
“It is no secret that Providence is in crisis and that public safety departments are being called on to make enormous sacrifices. We cannot afford, nor is it fair to current public safety employees, to lose one dollar to fraud anywhere in the pension system,” said Council President Michael Solomon. “Conducting this independent review is a critical step toward putting Providence on firm financial footing.”
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