THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, November 6, 1994 TAG: 9411060210
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MARC DAVIS, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 107 lines
When Judge Robert W. Stewart announced his retirement last month after 18 years in Norfolk Circuit Court, lawyers wondered why a judge would quit just seven months after getting a new eight-year appointment?
The answer, Stewart says, is simple: If he stays on past July 1, he will get a smaller pension. And every year he stays, his pension will get even smaller.
That's also why fellow Norfolk Circuit Judge Thomas R. McNamara is retiring. ``It's silly to work an extra year just to get $2,400 a year less in pension,'' McNamara said Thursday.
In fact, Virginia may lose several more older, experienced judges this year because of changes in the state retirement system that will take effect July 1. One Richmond judge stands to lose $5,000 a year if he waits past July 1 to retire.
So far, few judges statewide have announced retirements. Stewart and McNamara are among the first. But many more are thinking of retirement because of the new pension rule. It is already a popular topic of conversation among older judges.
``I've got to believe there are a number of judges who will retire just to protect their wives,'' said Portsmouth Circuit Judge L. Cleaves Manning, who will retire next year for personal reasons unrelated to the pension rule.
The new rules affect all state employees - highway workers, college professors, troopers and others - who retire after July 1. But because judges are older as a group and often work past age 60or 65, they may feel a greater pinch.
The changes came about when state officials re-examined the actuarial tables in 1991. The cuts will be harsher for retirees who choose survivor benefits - those who want wives or husbands to get benefits after they die. The cuts will be bigger for retirees who are much older than their spouses.
Oddly, the longer a state worker waits to retire under the new system, the smaller his pension will be.
``We really don't understand why that goes down every year,'' Stewart said. ``You would think it would be the other way around.''
Added Circuit Judge Nelson T. Overton of Hampton: ``Every system I've ever heard of, including Social Security, every year you don't draw on it you get a certain percentage increase, not a decrease (in benefits). . . . I just resent the idea that the longer I work, the less money I get.''
Retirement officials say this has to do with calculations of present value.
``Logically, when you first look at it, it doesn't make sense,'' said Bo Harris, deputy director of the Virginia Retirement System. ``But when you analyze it on a present value basis, it does.''
Harris said he does not expect a rash of retirements because of the new rules because most state retirees - 89 percent - don't take survivor benefits. But for many judges the issue is clear: Retire now and collect full pension. Retire later and take a cut.
McNamara is a good example. He is 69; his wife is a few years younger. His term does not expire until 2000. He might have stayed on another year or two, but that would have cost him money.
If McNamara retires after July 1, his pension would drop $168 a month, or $2,016 a year. After Aug. 1, it would drop $220 a month, or $2,640 a year.
``If it's just a matter of now or a few months from now, why not?'' McNamara said.
Stewart is another example. He is 64. He and his wife are about the same age, so that is not a factor. Like McNamara, he planned to stay another year or two.
``I have never aspired to go on until the very limit of the time I could stay,'' Stewart said. ``It's been attractive to be able to retire with a good retirement at an age when you can still enjoy it.''
He said he wavered on when to retire, but the new pension system ``tipped the scale in that direction. . . . I found that to be a very strong factor.''
Many judges did not find out about the change until a May judicial conference in Northern Virginia. Before then, the retirement system made little effort to spread the news.
The Richmond judge was astounded to learn he would lose $5,000 a year if he waited to retire. ``A number of people were quite shocked,'' said Robert Baldwin, executive secretary of the Virginia Supreme Court.
Officials at the retirement system say the change has been in the works for three years, so employees had plenty of time to make a decision.
The General Assembly even delayed the effective date one year to give workers more time.
Judges, however, were so surprised at hearing the pension news that they appointed an ad hoc committee, chaired by Overton in Hampton, to look into it.
``They're saying they notified us,'' Overton said, ``but if they did, I missed it.''
So far, only a few judges have announced retirements, but it's hard to know which ones were influenced by the new pension rules:
Stewart and McNamara will leave March 1.
Manning, 65, will leave Feb. 1.
Reid M. Spencer of Norfolk's General District Court said he will retire June 30 or Dec. 31, 1995, but not because of the retirement rules.
Two Circuit judges in Yorktown and Tazewell will retire Jan. 1.
Four General District judges in Arlington, Fairfax, Lynchburg and Augusta County will leave by June 30.
Baldwin said he has heard others talk of retirement, but won't know for sure until later this year, and maybe not until the General Assembly meets early next year.
``I don't think you'll see any great flood,'' McNamara predicted.
But probably there will be more, Manning said. The new system encourages earlier retirements. ``I would be surprised,'' Manning said, ``if there weren't a number of them who are going to retire because of the change.''
KEYWORDS: RETIREMENT JUDGES VIRGINIA by CNB