Baker County Sheriff Scotty Rhoden maneuvers to collect a pension cash bonus of over $1 Million!

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Republican Baker County Sheriff Christopher “Scotty” Rhoden decided his salary of $163,132, annual benefits of approximately $65,000 and standard pension of approximately $103,563 a year was not enough money. On September 13, 2022 Rhoden used his Political Position to submit fake retirement paperwork, a contract promise to resign on September 30, 2030, in exchange for being eligible for a $1,148,485 taxpayer paid pension cash bonus. This cunning maneuver also increased Rhoden’s monthly pension of $11,112 which is $133,344 a year!

[1] http://edr.state.fl.us/content/local-government/reports/finsal23.pdf

[2] https://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/ecec.pdf

“Sneaky Politician Christopher “Scotty” Rhoden is greedy. How many gourmet meals, luxury cars, and vacation homes does one person truly need or can use? How much, if any of the $1 Million taxpayer paid pension will Politician Scotty Rhoden promise, in writing to donate to charity?”

-Researcher Dave Jaye

Sheriff Scotty Rhoden is a Triple Dipper. Rhoden collects a paycheck and a pension at the same time to do the same job and shamelessly avoids paying the standard 3% of his salary ($4,893) into the Florida Pension System, shifting his personal responsibility to taxpayers.

“Sheriff Rhoden has set a new low in exploiting his political position for personal enrichment.”

-Researcher Dave Jaye

Unfortunately rival Republican Sheriff Candidate J.D. Carpenter has refused to sign a Promise not to take a pension cash bonus. “Although J.D. Carpenter wants to replace Scotty Rhoden as Sheriff Carpenter wants to keep the $1.2 Million dollar Pension cash bonus for himself,” noted Dave Jaye. “I have called and emailed J.D. Carpenter many times since March of 2024 and spoke with his top campaign volunteer, but J.D. Carpenter refuses to sign a Promise not to take a pension cash bonus if elected”. His campaign contacts are 904-316-5139 jdcarpenter7223@yahoo.com

While Million Dollar Pension Politician Scotty Rhoden takes bushels of taxpayer money, The average Baker County working men and women make $40,776 a year and would have to work 28.1 years to make Sheriff Scotty Rhoden’s $1.14 Million Pension cash bonus.

As Sheriff, Rhoden knows that knows that 1 in 3 people incarcerated in Florida reads below a sixth grade level and 2 in 3 lack a high school diploma or GED Fewer than 37% of Baker County High School students are Job ready as only 42% pass reading, only 33% pass math and only 29.9% are college ready, yet 83.7% graduate with what is often viewed as a worthless Diploma . Sheriff Scotty Rhoden’s $1,071,608 pension cash bonus would be better spent on providing 63,068 tutoring hours for Baker County students and non violent Jail Inmates.

Rhoden’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. For the list of the names, employers, and pension cash bonuses of approximately 28,536 Florida’s Triple Dippers, visit https://tripledippers.org/fl-cash-outs-june-2024/

When Scotty Rhoden collects the $1.14 Million pension cash bonus on September 30, 2030 he most certainly will ask for special politician permission to break his contract promise to resign as a condition of collecting the pension cash bonus . All other public employees will lose their pension cash bonus if they don’t physically retire and resign from their job. Politician Scotty Rhoden will then continue collecting his $163,132 salary and annual benefits of approximately $65,000 avoiding paying 3% of his salary into the Florida Pension System. for the remainder of his Political term and any future terms of political office.

Governor Ron 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 earlier. The Triple Dipper Pension Bonus system created $39 billion in unfunded Florida Retirement obligations, amounting to a $1,725 liability for every man, woman, and child in Florida.

Baker Sheriff Scotty Rhoden, who is under investigation, gets his campaign headquarters for $150 a month. Can that possibly be legal? Reports the Florida Center for Government Accountability.

Witnesses accuse Florida Sheriff Scotty Rhoden of intimidating opponent’s supporters Reports the Florida Center for Government Accountability.

As a Cherry on the Top of the Triple Dipping Politician Sheriff Scotty Rhoden will be able to cash out 30 years of unused vacation, sick and personal days not at the salary when days off were earned but at Rhoden’s final, highest salary.

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.

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.

Visit the TripleDipper Hall of Shame Here