Pay for 7 police union executives exceeds $100,000

Pay for 7 police union executives exceeds $100,000

February 1, 2020; updated February 5, 2020

I said in a January 28 story that the Police Officers Association of Michigan (POAM) was in bed with telemarketer Midwest Publishing Inc. POAM also has some very well-paid executives. Seven made over $100,000; one of them made over $200,000. The earnings information below came from page 7 of the union's IRS Form 990 for 2018. The form is required by the IRS for tax-exempt organizations, non-exempt charitable trusts and section 517 political organizations. You can look up 990s for any organization at Guidestar.org.

   William Birdseye

   James Tignanelli

Kenneth E. Grabowski

W-2 Compensation:

Other:

2018 Total:

$187,223

$40,537

$227,760

W-2 Compensation:

Other:

2018 Total:

$164,734

$24,710

$189,444

W-2 Compensation:

Other:

2018 Total:

$144,518

$21,678

$166,196



   Wayne Beerbower

   Dan Kuhn

Thomas Funke

W-2 Compensation:

Other:

2018 Total:

$121,573

$25,237

$146,810

W-2 Compensation:

Other:

2018 Total:

$113,630

$17,044

$130,674

W-2 Compensation:

Other:

2018 Total:

$113,144

$16,972

$130,116





   Kevin Loftis

W-2 Compensation:

Other:

2018 Total:

$105,000

$15,750

$120,750

By comparison, the Fraternal Order of Police Labor Council - which also claims 10,000 members - is funded entirely through member dues and its highest paid executive is Dave Willis. Their 990 for 2017 says his pay was $46,800. The 2017 990 for the Police Officers Labor Council says executive director Robert Figurski was paid $99,226 in W2 compensation and $2,279 in other income.

Other items of interest from POAM's 990 for 2018:

26		Number of employees
$2,979,600		Salaries, other compensation, employee benefits
$5,250,154		Membership dues
$372,349		Fundraising events
$34,568		Other contributions, gifts, grants, and similar amounts
$145,405		Investment income
$317,004		Professional fundraising services
$93,212		Political campaign activity expenditures
$5,057,800		Net assets or fund balances

In my January 28 story, I said that with POAM's 10,000 members, they could have raised the $92,515 they and sister organization COAM spent on politicians in 2018-2019 with a yearly member contribution of a little over $4. It appears that with the $5,250,154 received in member dues, those 10,000 members are already paying about $500 a year. Another $4 would hardly be felt, and the unseemly relationship with telemarketer Midwest Publishing Inc could be terminated.

My figures for the January 28 story were compiled from campaign finance reports POAM/COAM submitted to the Secretary of State. Some don't match the figures on the 990:

The 990 says political campaign activity expenditures for 2018 were $93,212. I found that less than half that - $92,515 - was spent by POAM/COAM combined over the two years 2018-2019.
The 990 says that $317,004 was spent on professional fundraising services in 2018. I found that a total of $201,814 was spent by POAM/COAM in 2018-2019 - about $100,000 a year.

Finally, with "net assets or fund balances" totaling $5,057,800, you'd think they could pause the fundraising for a while.

Note: I wasn't aware of POAM executive salaries or 990s until I got a tip from a former POAM member who thought salaries were ridiculously high and got his group to switch to another union.

Update: Looking for additional information on POAM finances, I tried the U.S. Department of Labor's website and learned that only private sector unions are required to report. I then tried the Michigan Employment Relations Commission website and learned that Public Act 414 of 2014 requires that

By July 1 of each year, each exclusive bargaining representative that represents public employees in this state shall have an independent examiner verify the exclusive bargaining representative’s calculation of all expenditures attributed to the costs of collective bargaining, contract administration, and grievance adjustment during the prior calendar year and shall file that verification with the commission.

The Commission posts these audits on its website. You can look up reports for 2018 and after here (use the search box at the top) and older reports here. The latest audit report I could find for POAM was for 2015. See it here. That there are no later reports suggests that the reporting requirement is not strictly enforced.

Send comments, questions, and tips to stevenrharry@gmail.com or call or text me at 517-730-2638. If you'd like to be notified by email when I post a new story, let me know.

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