CROWN POINT | Lake County officials who pushed 65 employees out the door two weeks ago are now welcoming 60 consultants and contractors with lucrative contracts for the new year.
Lake Commissioners awarded a $200,000 contract last week to Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein LLP, a law firm based in the Carolinas to add to the $3.6 million in public moneys they've earned over the last decade advising and representing the county in litigation against BP, U.S. Steel, ArcelorMittal and casinos over property tax disputes.
Crown Point attorney George Patrick scored two contracts worth $72,540 for legal advice on unemployment and workman's compensation claims. That is in addition to the $2,832,070 he was paid between 2000 to 2009.
Terrence J. Bronowski, a Merrillville certified public accountant, will be paid $28,800; Crown Point lawyer Bruce Lambka and Schererville attorney James Wieser each will receive $22,500; Hammond lawyer David Saks gets $3,000; and Richard J. Cockrum, a state lobbyist will get $48,000.
In contrast, those employees who were laid off or took early retirement to avoid layoff for the most part held clerical jobs earning less than $25,900 annually.
While the consultants' march on government's coffers appears steady, officials insist laying off employees and pushing others into early retirement will save taxpayers millions of dollars in health insurance benefits.
Councilman Larry Blanchard, R-Crown Point, said, "We have reduced the employees on the health insurance plan and continue to do so. On average, it costs $14,000 per person for the county to provide primary coverage. That goes down by $10,000 to $12,000 per person when employees retire, and we are only secondary coverage."
Health and retirement benefits have been closed to consultants. However, the Lake County Council meets Thursday in special session to find a compromise that could give John Bushemi, legal consultant to Sheriff-elect John Buncich, a $115,000 contract -- and access to the county government's family healthcare coverage.
Council members are split on whether to grant the insurance to Bushemi, which costs the public about $14,000 per person.
"I have a problem with setting a precedent. It opens the door for all consultants," Blanchard said.
Bushemi said no questions were raised when he received insurance as Buncich's legal counselor more than eight years ago. But Bushemi was a county government employee eight years ago who received a small salary and the rest of his compensation through an additional contract.
However, County officials said the Internal Revenue Service recently warned them the county no longer can pay someone as both an employee and as a consultant on the side. Blanchard said the IRS was afraid such a system could make it difficult to track all of an individual's income for taxing purposes.
Outgoing Sheriff Rogelio "Roy" Dominguez said he sees no problem with Bushemi's earning as much as $115,000 a year, since the voluminous litigation filed against county police and the jail easily could exceed that amount if Bushemi charged an hourly rate. "He could be capping his income to his own detriment," Dominguez said.