She says she wants to pay the state back, but the public employment retirement system won't let her. We're talking about one of those elected officials accused of double-dipping, collecting both a paycheck and a retirement check at the same time.
Jo West Taylor is one of 10 elected officials the Arkansas Public Employment Retirement System, APERS, publicly says improperly retired.
"If I did something incorrectly, I did it by their guidance," Taylor says.
Nearly a year after being told she retired wrong, Taylor wants to make it right.
APERS demanded she repay more than $200,000 in retirement money but in a recent letter, APERS changed course saying: "We are withdrawing our demand for repayment of those funds."
"I just don't feel like we've all been treated in the same equal manner," Taylor says.
Taylor came under fire last summer when it came out she and two other Garland County elected officials took themselves off the payroll for 90 days, but never vacated their office, and then collected two paychecks.
"Several elected officials had taken advantage of the offer and state employees and that was perfectly legal and correct to do."
When asked if it seemed right, Taylor said, "Yes. I wouldn't have done it if it seemed wrong."
APERS disagrees, saying only officials like Taylor who've been publicly identified, have made the claim they followed APERS advice.
"I'm a mother of three and a grandmother of seven and I did not mean for it to be a negative reflection on the family," Taylor says.
Now the county treasurer says she just wants to repay what APERS says she took inappropriately. APERS says it can collect overpayment provided it knows about it within one year of the first overpayment. Jay Wills with APERS says Taylor's overpayment went on for longer than a year, so even if she wants to pay it back, state law says she can't.
Taylor, represented by Little Rock attorney Denise Hoggard, has asked for a hearing in front of the APERS board to argue their case. Taylor is appealing APERS assertion she ineffectively retired and the decision to withdraw demand for repayment.
Wills says a hearing could be scheduled in August.
"We’d like to get to it quickly,” Wills says.
Taylor is in her 18th year as Garland County Treasurer. In that time, she says she was never written up for mishandling any county funds. However, she was defeated in her run for re-election by state Senator Terry Smith (D) who she says capitalized on her characterization as a double dipper to oust her from office.
