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The revelation that a vice chancellor at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay retired from his $131,000-a-year position and returned about a month later while continuing to draw his retirement benefit has prompted the state to launch an investigation into whether the move was made legally.

The university's decision to rehire its top finance official, Tom Maki, also prompted state Rep. Steve Nass (R-Whitewater) to cancel a public hearing scheduled for Thursday on tuition legislation that's supported by UW-Green Bay.

State law bars agencies from making an arrangement to rehire someone who is planning to retire before that person leaves. Nass said he suspects that's what happened in Maki's case. The university denies there was an arrangement.

"Can I prove it? I'm going to try," said Nass, who chairs the state Assembly's Colleges and Universities Committee. "This arrangement for the vice chancellor can't be allowed to stand."

UW-Green Bay Chancellor Tom Harden said state policy is vague about whether there can be discussions about rehiring an employee who plans to retire, but he said he didn't make an offer until after Maki had retired.

"No deal was cut or anything like that," said Harden, who has been UW-Green Bay's chancellor for about two years. He said he has reviewed the state rules with UW System officials. "I think I did it the right way," he said.

Maki, UW-Green Bay's vice chancellor for finance, retired in March in the midst of debate over state employee benefits because he wanted to start drawing on his retirement benefits, university spokesman Christopher Sampson said.

Maki, who had been the university's top finance official, was rehired as a limited-term employee at the same salary about a month later to help UW-Green Bay deal with a budget cut they were anticipating. In June, all UW System schools had their budgets cut by 11%.

"I felt like that was a difficult time for the university to lose its chief financial officer," Harden said of Maki, who has worked for UW-Green Bay for 20 years and for the state for more than 30 years.

Maki could not be reached at his office Wednesday and Sampson said Maki did not want to talk to reporters about his rehiring.

Sampson and UW System officials argue that asking retired employees to help on a temporary basis actually saves money. Hiring someone new for a post would require the universities to pay salaries and benefits. If retired employees come back and don't give up their retirement payments, the university saves on benefits that cost thousands of dollars.

Common practice

UW-Green Bay has 17 current employees who are drawing retirement benefits, including seven members of the faculty. The university has more than 500 employees. The UW System doesn't have systemwide figures on how many of its current employees are drawing retirement payments, but said it's a common practice in state agencies.

For instance, an employee earning $45,000 while working for the UW System would receive about $18,000 in benefits - a $3,150 contribution to the state's retirement fund and a $14,890 contribution for an employee who enrolls in a family health plan.

UW System spokesman David Giroux said it's common for employees in the public and private sectors to determine the best circumstances under which they can draw their retirement and to do so. If the university can lure some of those workers back to help in temporary situations, the state benefits, he said.

Nass sees the situation differently. At a time of tight budgets, he suspects many state agencies are paying state workers their full salaries while they're collecting retirement money.

In the case of the university system, schools are also asking students to pay tuition increases of 5.5% or more, Nass said. He said he would work with other legislators to see whether the state could ban agencies from bringing back such employees or could place restrictions on their rehiring.

"That's a surprise, it's shocking and it should not be allowed."