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Monday, August 15, 2011

Former Mehlville Superintendent Tim Ricker in Hot Water AGAIN!

Former Mehlville Superintendent Tim Ricker has certainly brought his inferior leadership skills to the Lemont-Bromberek Combined School District 113A in Illinois. Mr. Ricker is being paid more than $200,000 a year by this district while he STILL COLLECTS over $150,000 from the taxpayers here in Mehlville! 
Ricker is even doing a crappier job THERE that he did HERE. (Remember the Ricker-sponsored 97-cent tax increase, Prop A that failed miserably in 2006 under Ricker's disastrous "leadership"?) 
Mr. Ricker was also included in a lawsuit filed by the Center for Open Government at IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law, the lawsuits claim District 113A school board members "engaged or aided in illegal spending, and then took steps to conceal expenditures by draining funds legally appropriated for other purposes, all in violation of Illinois law," which allegedly resulted in the loss of $12 million in taxpayer money, the complaint said. 
While the MCTA is HAPPY that Ricker is gone, we are UNHAPPY that we are still stuffing his pockets with our hard-earned tax dollars. Tim Ricker now earns almost a half a million dollars a year in salary and benefits while he destroys another school district outside of Missouri. The pension plan for educators is out of control and needs reform NOW!! Read the latest:
'Now is not a good time'
After heated discussion, board waits to solve negative fund balance
By Janice Hoppe, jhoppe@mysuburbanlife.com
Posted Aug 11, 2011 @ 01:56 PM
Last update Aug 11, 2011 @ 02:02 PM

Despite previous claims from its superintendent that District 113A did not withhold checks due to a negative cash balance in its Education Fund, the district’s interim business manager Wednesday night admitted to doing so.
Superintendent Tim Ricker told The Reporter in several interviews last month — via phone and email — that holding checks was never an option for the school district to reconcile the negative fund balance, which came to light during a board meeting July 19.
During a special meeting Wednesday night, interim business manager Jay Tovian told the board that he withheld various checks, though he did not indicate what types of checks were held.
"(The checks) were withheld because there were insufficient funds," Tovian told the board Wednesday night. "I didn't mail the checks because they would bounce."
That statement contradicts what Ricker told The Reporter late last month.
“There are no late checks and nothing of that nature," Ricker said during a telephone interview July 21.
When approached for follow-up questions after the nearly four-hour-long meeting Wednesday, Ricker would not respond to questions from The Reporter.
"Now is not a good time," he said before leaving the building.
Phone calls were placed to both Ricker and Tovian Thursday morning, and were not returned as of press time.
The checks withheld were printed on June 28, Tovian said at the meeting, but were not sent out until July 7 — the day before the school district received $5 million in Tax Anticipation Warrants.
As for the negative balance, which Tovian said he discovered June 28, the board chose to wait to settle on a solution until they receive an auditor's opinion.
District officials had thought they would receive direction from the Illinois State Board of Education prior to the meeting, but that did not happen, according to Ricker.
Ricker said Deb Vespa, an administrator with ISBE, had not responded with any direction as of Wednesday night. Ricker said Vespa only indicated that the district should speak with its attorneys and auditors for a solution.
"Her input was not to have a negative cash balance," Ricker said regarding his discussion with Vespa. "This is not an uncommon occurrence with (ISBE). I think in her thoughts there's a risk if she gives her opinion."
Barbara Germany, District 113A’s incoming business manager, then said she will discuss with the auditors the best route to take to create a positive cash balance for ending the Fiscal 2011 budget.
The board is expected to settle on a solution during its board meeting on Tuesday.
In order for the board to approve the Fiscal 2012 budget — which began July 1 — it must rectify the negative balance in the Fiscal 2011 budget. School districts cannot begin operating on a new fiscal budget with a negative fund balance.
Mary Fergus, spokesperson for the ISBE, said the District 113A board has until the end of September to approve the Fiscal 2012 and submit it to the ISBE in order to place the approved budget on its website.
The negative fund balance was made public during a board meeting July 19 when District 113A School Board members Al Malley and Mike Aurelio, the board president, said the board was asked by Tovian to sign off on two fund transfers back-dated to June 29.
Thomas Melody, one of the school district's attorneys, was present during Wednesday’s meeting to offer legal counsel on the back-dated resolution. He was asked by Aurelio to attend the meeting.
Melody said it is within school board code to approve a retroactive resolution, but that it is not a common practice.
"Sometimes it happens, but it's not the best way to proceed," he said. "But it's not like anyone stole any funds or there was any misappropriation of funds. ... It's not ideal but it's OK."
While Ricker has insisted that no transfer of money within school funds was ever made, Melody said was he under the assumption that transfers were made, based on his own research leading up to Wednesday's meeting.
"If that wasn't the case, why would you draft a resolution that is retroactive?" he asked. "That would make no sense, why do you need a resolution that would have said, 'we are going to make this effective June 29'?"


— Ryan Terrell contributed to this report.

7 comments:

  1. You do understand that the Mehlville School District doesn't really pay Ricker's pension, right? I mean, PSRS is paying the pension. When he was employed by Mehlville, the district paid into PSRS as did Ricker. NOW, in retirement, he collects from PSRS NOT the Mehlville taxpayers.

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  2. Yes Liz, we are not stupid - we understand that the PSRS pays Ricker's extravagant retirement benefits. However, the Mehlville taxpayers DID pay half of Ricker's pension contributions while he worked here. So yes, WE DID pay him and now he is double-dipping and raping the taxpayers of Illinois out of an inflated salary and MORE pension payments. This guy becomes a millionaire EVERY 2 years, and as Elliot Davis says, YOU PAID FOR IT!

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  3. Well, I'd disagree with the first part of your first sentence but since there's only a slim chance that my post will be published, I'm just saying that to make myself feel better :)

    I will remind the kind gentlemen who choose to view these comments for publication that you certainly did suggest that he's currently paid by Mehlville tax dollars...and that's patently untrue.

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  4. The taxpayers WERE paying, NOW pay and WILL be paying into the cushy PSRS FOREVER...unless WE STOP IT! In reality, Mehlville is subsiding every overpaid administrator in the state INCLUDING Ricker and most recently our beloved and exalted leader, Terry Noble.

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  5. Hey Liz, aren't you a teacher? If so, couldn't your comments be considered biased, both here and on the Patch?

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  6. Ricker brought down yet another district. Lemont obviously did not do their homework before they agreed to pay this guy $200,000 + (his contract is ridiculous). Ricker is for himself and no others. Such a shame it took taxpayers 6 years and millions of dollars in debt before they realized this.

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  7. Update...We are finally rid of this dark cloud that has befallen Lemont. Follow the link.....

    http://www.mysuburbanlife.com/lemont/newsnow/x1569721610/D-113A-Superintendent-Tim-Ricker-to-resign-at-the-end-of-the-month

    ReplyDelete

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