In our Waste Watch segment, do county employees get a better match on their retirement plan than most of those footing the bill for it?
A KFDM viewer writes quote: "A Jefferson County employee recently told me that the County was matching her 401k plan payments 250%. How can we afford this? No wonder our taxes are always going up.The taxpayers should be informed."
A check of the Jefferson County retirement plan actually shows a match of 200-percent... meaning for every one dollar the employee contributes to the plan, the county puts in two dollars.
All employees must contribute 7% of their pay and cannot elect to contribute more. In defense of the plan a county worker wrote KFDM said they often do not get regular pay raises like workers in the private sector. The match was established in 2007.
For 2013, Jefferson County has budgeted almost $ 9 million for the county's match or about $8700 dollars per employee.
A check of other counties of similar size shows the match is not unusual.
Mclennan and Webb counties match even more.. 250-percent. Smith County matches 100 percent.
Jefferson County 200%
Mclennan County 250%
Webb County 250%
Lubbock County 200%
Smith County 100%
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, more than half of all employees in the private sector get only a 50% match on their company plan.
If you've got a question or a tip about government spending email us at Waste Watch at KFDM dot com.
Jefferson County workers get 200% retirement match
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