Superintendent paid himself $78,000 too much

Retired Riverside SD 96 Superintendent Jon Lamberson, who receives the 25th-highest public pension in the state of Illinois is being investigated by the Illinois Attorney General’s office after irregularities were found in his reported salary contribution and expenses. The story has been covered in the Riverside-Brookfield Landmark.

Lamberson worked at the district from 2005-2013. He also wore a second hat as the district’s chief financial officer.

It was as finance officer that Lamberson was charged with calculating his own pay and benefits. The district has since hired a separate finance officer.

Last year, the D96 school board discovered a salary discrepancy in how vacation days were counted toward a pension obligation. They informed the former superintendent he was credited with $78,444 more in earnings than he was entitled to. The board also found discrepancies in Lamberson’s alleged use of the district credit card for personal purchases at Costco and other merchants. Lamberson may also have used the district card for gasoline when he had a district-issued travel allowance.

Lamberson left the district to take a job in Milwaukee, putting D96 and the Illinois Teachers Retirement System on the hook for his pension early since he left the state. He has now retired to Minnesota. According to the Better Government Agency’s database, Lamberson was paid a public pension of $262,516 in 2014.

The board announced at the July, 2015 meeting they were cooperating with the Illinois Attorney General’s office in the investigation of “a district employee.”

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