In Bradford County, one of Florida’s Poorest Counties, local politician and tax collector Teresa
Phillips Exploits Political Position for a $682,429 Pension Bonus | March 28, 2024

Republican Teresa Phillips decided her original taxpayer-paid pension bonus of
$375,851 scheduled for January 31, 2024, was not enough money. On June 29, 2023,
Phillips submitted paperwork, reneging on a previous contract promise to resign on
January 31, 2024 in exchange to be eligible for the $375,851 pension cash bonus.
This cunning maneuver allowed Phillips to extend her pension bonus period by an
additional three years, inflating her total pension cash bonus to an indefensible
$682,429, with a monthly taxpayer-funded pension soaring from approximately
$3,758 to $6,873. Source documents are available above.

Bradford County is one of Florida’s poorest counties in Florida with a poverty rate
at 16.4%1 over 29% higher than the 12.7% State poverty level. The median
household income of $37,221, compared to the state average of $67,917. The state
average wage in 2022 was $63,762 Bradford County $43,768.

“Sneaky Politician Teresa Phillips is greedy. How many gourmet meals, luxury cars, and vacation homes does
one person truly need or can use?” – Dave Jaye, Researcher.

Bradford County Tax Collector Teresa Phillips (62) takes a salary of $124,849
and approximately $47,460 in annual benefits and shamelessly avoids paying the
standard 3% of her salary ($3,560) to the Florida Pension program, shifting her
personal responsibility to taxpayers. As highlighted on this site, Teresa
Phillips falls under the category of Triple Dipping Politicians.

An opportunity to halt Phillips’s excessive cash grab exists – her defeat in the reelection
bid scheduled for August 20, 2024. The average Bradford County, FL worker
earns $43,768 per year or $21 per hour2, would need over 15.37 years to match
Politician Teresa Phillips’s staggering pension cash bonus of $682,429..

Fewer than 30% of Bradford County High Schools students are Job ready as only
34% pass reading, only 24% pass math and only 12.7% are college ready, yet 81%
graduate with what is often viewed as a worthless Diploma3. Teresa Phillips’s
$683,075 pension cash bonus would be better spent on providing 32,527 tutoring
hours4 for Bradford County students.

Phillips’s pension cash bonus is formally called the “Deferred Retirement Option
Program” (DROP). DROP’s original intent was 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.

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 ten
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.

Checkout our latest investigative Reports at the TripleDippers Hall of Shame where we profile the most Greedy Florida
Politicians and Bureaucrats using their public positions for personal enrichment.

Citations:

https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/bradfordcountyflorida/PST045222
https://www.daytonastate.edu/faculty-and-staff/institutional-research/files/volusia-flagler/annual-averagewages-
by-county.pdf
https://www.usnews.com/education/k12/florida/districts/Bradford-106929
https://www.ziprecruiter.com/Salaries/Private-Tutor-Salary–in-Florida $683,075 /$21 hour = $32,527
https://thecapitolist.com/frs-double-dip-retirement-expansion-will-make-it-harder-for-private-sector-to-compete-with-state/