Officials get raises, vets' funerals face cut

Report below from Gary Fisher, virtually the only reporter who seems interested in what's going on at the state Dept. of Veterans Affairs, although the current Blue Book says there are about 470,000 veterans living in Wisconsin. Opinions are his. The board will also consider Friday whether to change its rules to require a unanimous vote of all seven members to remove the secretary, and only for cause, giving the secretary virtual lifetime tenure. -- Xoff.

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IT'S LONELY AT THE TOP
"Listen to the band, they're playing just for me
Listen to the people paying just for me
All the applause-all the parades
And all the money I have made
Oh, it's lonely at the top."
-Randy Newman

The top executives at the Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs are in line for $28,000 in merit pay raises at the same time the department is considering a 30% cut in the stipends paid to those who conduct military funerals for the state's veterans.

"We finally get (general purpose revenue) to pay for the military funeral honors program, and WDVA managers give themselves pay increases," said State Rep. Terry Musser, a Black River Falls Republican and Vietnam vet.

In August, the board authorized an immediate increase for John Scocos, WDVA secretary, and Scocos authorized six more awards in September, which, according to an informed source, the board doesn't know much of, or anything about.

The $28,000 is in what are called discretionary compensation awards (DCAs), also known as "merit" raises.

"How can you justify a DCA while vets, surviving spouses and children are taking cuts?" asked Board Member Marv Freedman, who said he was unaware of the raises.

The raises go to Scocos, Bill Kloster, Anthony Hardie, Tom Rhatican, John Crowley, Ken Grant and Amelia Franke.

Calculating annual salaries by multiplying the hourly salary times 2088 workable hours in a year, the total for all seven is $28,075; and for the six managers the
total is $25,557.

Notwithstanding Scocos' "revenue up, costs down" mantra, the increases benefit:

Scocos = $2.336 ($4,878) to $56.730 an hour equals $118,452 a year.
Kloster = $2.162 ($4,514) to $47.042 ($98,224)
Hardie = $2.002 ($4,180) to $43.070 ($89,930)
Rhatican = $1.854 (3,871) to $41.424 ($86,493)
Crowley = $.706 ($1,474) to $44.326 ($92,553)
Grant = $3.180 ($6,640) to $33.627 ($70,213)
Franke = $1.206 ($2,518) to $22.897 ($47,809)

WDVA has three funds: Veterans Trust Fund, Mortgage Loan Fund and Veterans Home Fund, and, depending on the employee's position, the DCA pay raise is generated from one or more of those funds.

After concerns were expressed by the state Legislature, no change has been made, yet, to the stipend program. It will be discussed at the next board meeting Friday in Union Grove.

Part of the military funeral honors program, the $50 stipends are proposed to be cut to $35. They are funded from a state general fund appropriation, at $175,500 annually. The stipends go to members of veterans service organizations (like the VFW, American Legion) who provide honor guards at veterans' funerals.WDVA has two funeral honors teams, and they are funded from a segregated appropriation funded from the veterans trust fund.

The military funeral honors program assists funeral directors and families by providing and coordinating funeral honors for veterans. Based on available resources the honorary ceremony may include the presence of military members or volunteers, folding and presenting the flag, firing of three rifle volleys, and sounding of Taps.