SALEM — The man at the center of the city's school-budget crisis will soon be collecting a pension.
Former School Business Manager Bruce Guy recently filed for retirement and will start receiving a pension of approximately $15,000 a year.
Mayor Kim Driscoll and many other city officials have blamed Guy for the school-budget crisis, accusing him of grossly underestimating expenses, imprudently moving funds around and using money from this year's budget to pay off last year's bills.
Salem police are conducting an investigation into the school-budget crisis, but Guy has not been charged with any crime.
As a result, members of the Salem Contributory Retirement Board had no reason to reject Guy's pension request, said Marcia Pelletier, the executive director of the retirement board, which granted the pension by a vote of 3-0.
"To our knowledge, he's done nothing wrong, so the board has approved his retirement," Pelletier said. "The board doesn't have any choice. He has a right to retire. You need time, age, service, and he has them all."
Guy worked in Salem for just more than 10 years, meeting the minimum service requirement for a pension. He earned $90,000 in his final few years on the job and was 58 years old when he left. He was not fired: Guy's three-year contract with the School Committee was not renewed when it expired last fall.
His pension will amount to approximately $15,000 a year.
"He's entitled to it," School Commitee member Jim Fleming said. "I'm well aware of the law. ... If he applied for a superannuation pension, I don't think there's anything they can do to stop that."
"It's unfortunate that the decision (to grant a pension) couldn't have been held off until the conclusion of the investigation and we had that information," School Committee member Kevin Carr said. "But I'm not sure of the requirements they were working under."
Guy did not return a phone message yesterday seeking comment, nor did Mayor Kim Driscoll, who sits on the retirement board.
Under state law, public employees can lose their pensions if convicted of certain offenses.
A person can be stripped of their pension for misappropriating funds, but no one — not even Guy's fiercest critics — has leveled such a charge against him.
Employees convicted of an offense involving the funds of a government unit can lose their pensions; so can employees found guilty of a criminal offense involving the violation of the laws applicable to their specific position.
Many are eagerly awaiting the findings of a Salem police investigation into the school-budget mess.
Some 33 school employees were laid off to close a $5.3 million school budget deficit that was discovered shortly after Guy left his post last fall.
Staff writer Chris Cassidy can be reached at 978-338-2526 or by e-mail at ccassidy@salemnews.com.
