The Pima County Board of Supervisors accepted Chuck Huckelberry’s resignation on Tuesday amid news the former county administrator retired from the position in July.
The board voted unanimously to accept the resignation “with the understanding that acceptance terminates the employment relationship,” and appointed Jan Lesher to take over as county administrator. Lesher had been interim county administrator following Huckelberry’s injury in a bike crash last October.
It was learned this week that nine months before announcing his resignation, Huckelberry had officially retired on July 4, 2021, and has since received a monthly pension of $12,228, according to the Arizona State Retirement System. The Tucson Sentinel first reported the news Monday.
Since then, Huckelberry has apparently operated as a contractor, receiving his regular salary and pension payments at the same time. Pima County was unable to confirm Huckelberry’s official employment status Tuesday.
Huckelberry suffered a brain bleed, a punctured lung and broken ribs when he was struck by a car while riding his bike downtown on Oct. 23. His resignation was announced publicly on April 1 in the addendum for the Board of Supervisors’ Tuesday meeting.
An attorney officially announced Huckelberry’s resignation in an email sent to board Chair Sharon Bronson on Monday on Huckelberry’s behalf, stating: “I hereby resign as the Pima County Administrator in order to concentrate my full efforts on the recovery of my health.”
“However, I am not resigning from Pima County. Pima County has a bright and prosperous future with many opportunities and unlimited potential for everyone. After I have recovered, I will be available to assist the County Administrator’s office and Board of Supervisors in achieving those opportunities and that future.”
It’s not clear what Huckelberry’s future employment plans within the county are, but the board’s motion passed unanimously Tuesday terminates his current contract.
The board voted 4-1, with Supervisor Steve Christy dissenting, to appoint Jan Lesher to take over Huckelberry’s position. Lesher has served as deputy county administrator since 2017 and has taken over Huckelberry’s role since Dec. 7. Her salary is currently $231,000.
Jan Lesher, acting Pima County Administrator, during the Board of Supervisors meeting on Tuesday.
Retired in 2021
When the board approved Huckelberry’s renewed contract as county administrator in January 2021, it approved a clause in that contract that said: “If Employee retires as allowed by the Arizona State Retirement System, Employee can return to work as a contractor without any negation of the terms of this contract, including its length.”
Unbeknownst to county residents, Huckelberry officially retired last year and has been paid his annual salary, set at $292,000 in 2021, in addition to monthly pension payments from the state retirement system, without being directly employed by Pima County.
“Chuck didn’t ‘retire’ in the sense that he ceased working or providing services to Pima County. The fact is that Chuck applied to the Arizona State Retirement System for the benefits he was lawfully entitled to receive given his age and years of service,” Huckelberry’s attorney, Ted Schmidt, said in an email. “This is no different than a person who is employed full-time filing for Social Security benefits when they become eligible. It is certainly not illegal or improper for someone who has worked all their lives to receive Social Security or state retirement benefits even though they continue to work full time.”
The move of simultaneously receiving pension benefits and a regular salary is commonly referred to as “double-dipping,” and is allowed under state statute in certain conditions.
Amid the news of Huckelberry’s resignation, Supervisors Adelita Grijalva, Matt Heinz and Rex Scott added an executive session item to Tuesday’s meeting “regarding the resignation of the current County Administrator and the potential need for outside counsel.” No further action, besides the clarification that accepting Huckelberry’s resignation would also terminate his contract, was taken Tuesday. The supervisors were quoted in the Sentinel article as saying they were not aware Huckelberry officially retired last July and was working as a contractor.
Retirement system members can retire, return to work and continue to collect pension benefits if they work less than 20 hours a week after the 19th week of the fiscal year, which runs from July to June. That means the pension recipient can only work full time for 19 weeks of the fiscal year.
According to a memo attached to the board’s Tuesday agenda, Huckelberry abided by this rule and received full-time compensation for 19 weeks, as required, and received compensation for 19-hour work weeks from his accrued vacations and sick time thereafter.
Huckelberry was also earning the benefits of his contract, according to the memo, which include an annual $8,200 contribution to a health savings account, a $550 monthly vehicle allowance as well as sick, vacation, holiday and other paid leave. The board’s termination of his contract on Tuesday, however, suspends those benefits.
Huckelberry has been the county administrator for 28 years, a role in which he managed a $2.1 billion budget, which includes federal COVID-19 relief funds as well as local taxpayer money, and a staff of more than 7,000 employees. He has worked for the county since 1974.
