Escambia’s Board of County Commissioners voted to give more than $300,000 to Commissioner Steven Barry and former commissioner Robert Bender, during their Aug. 7 board meeting that’s essentially credit for the years the men didn’t participate in the Florida Retirement Systems (FRS) while they were fighting for the county’s more lucrative retirement plan option.
The men pursued “prior service” through the Florida Retirement Systems (FRS) which they migrated to after losing a three and a half year legal fight in 2024 to collect retirement under the county’s plan, which a judge ruled amounted to unlawful compensation.
The Florida Department of Management Services (DMS), which manages and oversees the FRS, invoiced the county for employer contributions and employer penalties and interest under their FRS accounts.
Commissioner Steven Barry at the board’s Aug. 7 meeting. Escambia County agreed to pay contributions for the three and a half years Barry and former commissioner Robert Bender didn’t participate in the Florida Retirement Systems while fighting to stay in county’s plan.
According to the county, $292,143.75 in employer contributions is due for Bender, who is now Escambia County’s Elections Supervisor, and $26,333.38 in employer penalties and interest is due for Barry.
Previously, $168,855.51 was paid for the employer’s principal contribution for Barry. That payment and the outstanding employer amounts are being paid from Escambia County’s General Fund.
There was some tense discussion prior to the vote with Barry expressing frustration over the delay in receiving the funds, which are past due.
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“To be clear, we were told that if we didn’t appeal the (court’s) decision last summer and we elected to get into the pension and buy back our years of service and paid a bunch of money last summer within a certain time frame, that the bill would be paid when it came in and that didn’t happen,” Barry said. “So here we are, 10 months later.”
When Escambia County Clerk of Court attorney Cody Leigh spoke up to explain the delay Barry made it clear he was not interested in Leigh’s response, saying his statement “wasn’t a question” and he was “speaking to a colleague.”
May, who is also now in the FRS system but is not pursuing “prior service” through FRS, also indicated he wanted some form of retirement reimbursement for the 3.5 years he was involved in the legal fight over the county’s plan.
County Attorney Alison Rogers said she would meet with May after the meeting because he is “asking for something outside of the FRS world that is not a part of this particular (agenda )item.”
“What I think he is saying is that he wants to be considered for the possibility of something outside of the world of FRS for those 3 1/2 years when there were no contributions made on his behalf,” Rogers said.
May spoke in support of moving forward on the vote to give Barry and Bender the retirement funds.
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“I’m just not interested in having any more debate or discussion or fight about a pension for me,” May said, “but I do support my colleagues.”
However, as the discussion over the payments continued, he added, “The people that are holding us accountable, the very people holding us accountable have multiple, multiple retirement plans from the government.”
In an effort to play peacemaker, Board Chair Mike Kohler agreed he supported the payout and wanted to see the board “bury this and move forward.”
He then offered an olive branch to Leigh and several times asked him to continue with what he had intended to say to Barry regarding the delay in payment.
Clerk of Court Pam Childers did not attend the board meeting.
“I’m asking this gently, because I really hope the clerk and your staff that we build a bridge and we start moving forward,” Kohler said to Leigh.
Leigh responded that if he’s asked to join the conversation then it was only “fair” that he should be allowed to speak and he could “sign up” like citizens are asked to do if that was necessary.
He said he wanted to explain the history of the payment delay saying DMS previously made a mistake in the billing for the accounts.
“I have no interest in having any of this discussion, Mr. Leigh,” Barry said. “I have an interest in what Commissioner Kohler said, which is moving forward in a civil way. But I’m not going to allow things to be said or myself to be questioned as if I’m afraid to answer the questions because I’m not. I’ve done exactly what I was told to do in the timely manner that I was told to do it and have not been bargained with in good faith.”
How the retirement controversy came about
In April of 2024, an Okaloosa County Circuit Court judge ruled that the county’s local retirement plan that contributed 57% of a commissioner’s salary to a 401(a) retirement account amounted to unlawful compensation under Florida law.
The ruling came as a result of a lawsuit filed by the Escambia County Commission against Escambia County Clerk of Court and Comptroller Pam Childers, who blocked the payments to the program at the beginning of 2022.
Barry had proposed an up to $1.9 million backpay settlement for commissioners and senior staff who were unaware of the county’s 401(a) retirement program as an alternative to the Florida Retirement System.
After the judge’s ruling declaring the county’s plan “unlawful,” local retirement payouts totaling nearly $200,000 for commissioners Barry and Lumon May and former commissioner Bender were returned to the county treasury, marking the end of the more than two-year legal battle.
Former Commissioner Robert Bender’s account had the most funds, at $143,491.18, because he enrolled in the program after his election in 2018, and contributions weren’t stopped until the beginning of 2022.
Commissioner Steven Barry’s account returned $28,586.16 back to the county.
Commissioner Lumon May’s account returned $25,076.37 back to the county.
Had Childers not stopped the payments when she did, the amount that would’ve been wrongly paid out would be more than $390,000, according to court documents from the lawsuit.
Bender re-entered the regular Florida Retirement System when he was appointed Escambia County Supervisor of Elections. May and Barry re-entered the FRS last spring.
The board voted 4 to 0 to pay the invoices from DMS for the retirement funds, with Barry abstaining from the vote due to conflict of interest.
This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Escambia county pays retirement commissioners missed