Politician Sheriff Al Nienhuis forced to make public his $623,145 Pension Bonus and broken Promise to Resign by State Attorney William Glasson’s Office – Just in time for National Sunshine Week

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In a shocking taxpayer money grab, Hernando County Politician Sheriff Al Nienhuis decided his Salary of $ 198,9601 was not enough money and applied for a special $623,1452 taxpayer-funded pension bonus!

Al Nienhuis exploited his political position by signing up for a Triple Dipper Program where Nienhuis collected a paycheck and a pension at the same time to do the same job and didn’t pay 3% of his $198,960 salary $5,968, into the Florida Retirement System like other public employees. After taking the $623,145 Pension cash bonus, Republican Politician Nienhuis used his Political Position as Sheriff to shamelessly break his contract promise to resign as a condition of receiving that $623,145 taxpayer-paid bonus.

On January 19, 2024 Sheriff Al Nienhuis’s staff unlawfully rejected a Public Records Request for a copy of Al Nienhuis’s signed pension bonus documents3 from Dave Jaye, Researcher, www.tripledippers.org .

Dave Jaye then filed a complaint about Sheriff Nienhuis’s violation of Florida’s Sunshine Law with State Attorney William M Gladson’s office. Politician Sheriff Al Nienhuis was forced to make public his signed documents applying for and receiving a $623,145 Pension bonus and his broken promise to resign.

“Just because Politician Sheriff Al Nienhuis is worried that he will lose votes this 2024 election when taxpayers learn about his pension cash bonus and reneging on his contract promise to resign, he doesn’t have the authority to hide his public documents. We thank State Attorney William Gladson’s office for the quick investigation and the release of Politician Sheriff Al Nienhuis’s pension cash bonus and broken promise to resign–just in time for Government Records Sunshine week March 10-17 sponsored in 2024 by Florida’s Brechner Freedom of Information Project.”

While Politician Sheriff Al Nienhuis is not satisfied with his $198,960 salary plus approximately a $6,200 a month pension for life, the average Hernando County Deputy’s salary is $41,0004 and the average County worker makes only $19 an hour, $38,9865. The average Hernando man and woman would have to work 16 years to make Politician Sheriff Al Nienhuis’s outrageous $623,145 Pension cash bonus. Politician Al Nienhuis stated in his re-election announcement “I look forward to leading my team during these next five years as we become even more efficient …”6 “Politician Sheriff Al Nienhuis collecting a $198,960 salary and a $623,44 pension cash bonus at the same time to do the same job and not paying 3% of his salary $5,968 into the Florida Retirement system is not providing efficient services for taxpayers,” noted Dave Jaye.

On December 14, 2015 Al Nienhuis signed and submitted his “Resignation From Employment to Participate in DROP” The Deferred Retirement Option Program which included a contract promise to resign as a condition to be eligible for the $623,145 taxpayer-funded pension bonus, which he received on December 20, 2020. But Al Nienhuis decided his $623,145 pension bonus was not enough. Tricky Al Nienhuis applied for special politician permission to break his contract promise to resign on December 20, 2020 as a condition of receiving his $623,145 pension cash bonus on that day. Non politician Florida public employees who cannot break their contract to resign or they will forfeit their cash pension bonus.

This cunning maneuver allowed Al Nienhuis to continue to avoid paying 3% of his $198,960 salary $5,968 to the Florida Pension program even after collecting the $623,145 pension bonus shifting his personal responsibility to taxpayers. Al Nienhuis is illegally hiding this public document he signed by refusing to provide this public document DP-TEOC-2 Elected Officer DROP Termination Notification7 as required by Florida’s Sunshine Law Public Records Request.

Sheriff Al Nienhuis knows that 66% of males in Florida’s Jails and State Prisons lack a high school diploma and 33% read below a 6th- grade level. But Politician Al Nienhuis prioritized his $675,047 pension over advocating for the use of Politicians’ pension bonuses for tutors.

Only 49% of Hernando County High School Students are job-ready and only 23.3% are college-ready9. Yet 92% of High School Students graduate with what is often viewed as a worthless diploma. Al Nienhuis’s $623,145 taxpayer funded pension bonus would be better spent on providing 41,542 tutor hours to Hernando County School Children and jail inmates.

Politician Al Nienhuis’s pension cash bonus is formally called the “Deferred Retirement Option Program” (DROP). DROP’s original intent: helping the state retain essential and rare skill sets and experience in mission-critical jobs– not for politicians and low-skill jobs. For the list of the names, employers and pension cash bonuses of approximately 28,536 Florida’s Triple Dippers, visit https://tripledippers.org/fl-statewide-2023-june-28537-tripledippers/ .

Governor Jim DeSantis signed SB 7024 effective July 1, 2023 allowing politicians and bureaucrats to extend pension bonuses by 60% from 5 to 8 years and up to 10 years for School Employees and increasing the pension bonus interest rate from 1.2 to 4% and allowing many to collect pension bonuses earlier11. The Triple Dipper Pension Bonus system has created $39 billion in unfunded Florida Retirement obligations, amounting to a $1,725 liability for every man, woman, and child in Florida.

State and local Politicians are entitled by law to special treatment that allows them to accrue benefits faster and retire with bigger payments than most other workers. The separate class was created and modified over the years by the Florida Legislature, whose 160 members also are covered by pension cash bonuses12. Check out our latest investigative Report in The Hall of Shame where we profile the most Greedy Florida Politicians and Bureaucrats using their public positions for personal enrichment.

“Sneaky Politician Al Nienhuis is greedy. How many gourmet meals, luxury cars, and vacation homes does one person need or can even use? Al Nienhuis setting a disgraceful benchmark for personal enrichment in politics.”

While Politician Sheriff Al Nienhuis is not satisfied with his $198,960 salary plus approximately a $6,200 a month pension for life, the average Hernando County Deputy’s salary is $41,000 and the average County worker makes only $19 an hour, $38,9865. The average Hernando man and woman would have to work 16 years to make Politician Sheriff Al Nienhuis’s outrageous $623,145 Pension cash bonus. Politician Al Nienhuis stated in his re-election announcement “I look forward to leading my team during these next five years as we become even more efficient …”

“Politician Sheriff Al Nienhuis collecting a $198,960 salary and a $623,44 pension cash bonus at the same time to do the same job and not paying 3% of his salary $5,968 into the Florida Retirement system is not providing efficient services for taxpayers,” noted Dave Jaye.

On December 14, 2015 Al Nienhuis signed and submitted his “Resignation From Employment to Participate in DROP” The Deferred Retirement Option Program which included a contract promise to resign as a condition to be eligible for the $623,145 taxpayer-funded pension bonus, which he received on December 20, 2020.

But Al Nienhuis decided his $623,145 pension bonus was not enough. Tricky Al Nienhuis applied for special politician permission to break his contract promise to resign on December 20, 2020 as a condition of receiving his $623,145 pension cash bonus on that day. Non politician Florida public employees who cannot break their contract to resign or they will forfeit their cash pension bonus.

This cunning maneuver allowed Al Nienhuis to continue to avoid paying 3% of his $198,960 salary $5,968 to the Florida Pension program even after collecting the $623,145 pension bonus shifting his personal responsibility to taxpayers. Al Nienhuis is illegally hiding this public document he signed by refusing to provide this public document DP-TEOC-2 Elected Officer DROP Termination Notification7 as required by Florida’s Sunshine Law Public Records Request.

Sheriff Al Nienhuis knows that 66% of males in Florida’s Jails and State Prisons lack a high school diploma and 33% read below a 6th- grade level. But Politician Al Nienhuis prioritized his $675,047 pension over advocating for the use of Politicians’ pension bonuses for tutors.

Only 49% of Hernando County High School Students are job-ready and only 23.3% are college-ready. Yet 92% of High School Students graduate with what is often viewed as a worthless diploma. Al Nienhuis’s $623,145 taxpayer funded pension bonus would be better spent on providing 41,542 tutor hours10 to Hernando County School Children and jail inmates.

This website maintains an online repository of tens of thousands of Tripedipper records that are available via the top menu. Here is a list of 28,432 tripledippers from June 2024.

Visit the TripleDipper Hall of Shame Here