H ILLSBOROUGH C OUNTY S HERIFF S O FFICE A LUMNI A SSOCIATION N EWSLETTER

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1 H ILLSBOROUGH C OUNTY S HERIFF S O FFICE A LUMNI A SSOCIATION N EWSLETTER x J ANUARY 15, 2006 V OLUME II, I SSUE I Hillsborough County Sheriff s Office Alumni Association Post Office Box 6843 Brandon, Florida Phone: BOARD MEMBERS Ken Schintzius John Reed Vacant Donald F. Roman Major Robert Lucas ADVISORY BOARD MEMBERS Captain Carl V. Barletta, Detention Captain John Marsicano, Law Enforcement Bob Beckner Joe Franceschi Chuck Haber John Hatton Judy Larsen Phil Puleo Walter Ray Guy Roebuck Carl Shawver Ralph Springer Evelyn Yates President Vice-President Secretary Treasurer Sheriff s Liaison INSIDE THIS ISSUE Message from the President 2 Quarterly Meeting 2 Alumni Notes 3 Health Insurance Subsidy vs. 3 Health Insurance Stipend Announcements 4-5 COMMITTEES Benevolence Committee Judy Larsen Communications/Newsletter Advisory Board Tammy Spencer, Newsletter Editor Emergency Needs Committee Dennis Kolpin Bill Perry Phil Puleo Insurance Committee Captain Carl Barletta Charles LaFaye Kenneth Schintzius Social Events Committee Bob Beckner Evelyn Yates

2 Page 2 Alumni Association MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT By Ken Schintzius I would like to take this opportunity to wish each and every one of you a very joyous and prosperous New Year. I hope your Holiday Season was a great one. As we move into 2006 and start our third Alumni year, I want to thank all of you for your help and support. During 2005, our quarterly meetings generated attendance of up to 150 retirees. I hope 2006 will bring more of us together. The Officers and Board strive to bring our retirees a fun, social gathering as well as being informative each quarter. If you have any ideas on how to improve the content of the meetings or the Organization itself, we welcome Ken Schintzius President your suggestions. Let us take a moment to remember those retirees and friends that gave so much to the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office and its citizens and are no longer with us. We thank them for their service. I wish each and everyone a continued great retirement and remember we are a family..let s stay in touch. Quarterly Meeting The next Alumni Association Quarterly meeting will be held on Thursday, January 26, 2006 at 7:00 p.m. The meeting will be held at J. J. Taylor Distributing Company, 5102 S. 16 th Avenue, Tampa, FL (see map). A buffet style dinner will be available featuring Hot Roast Beef, salads, bread, etc., at no cost. There will also be door prizes and a 50/50. Please join us. We hope to see you there!!!! Directions FROM NORTH, EAST, WEST Interstate 4 or 275 to the 50 th Street exit. Take 50 th Street (US 41) south to 16 th Ave South and turn left. JJ Taylor Distributing is one block down on left. Landmark is King Automotive; it s across the street from 16 th Ave. NOTE: If you get to Causeway Blvd, you ve gone too far. FROM SOUTH HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY North on 50 th Street (US 41). Turn right on 16 th Avenue South. JJ Taylor is one block down on the left. NOTE: If you come to Palm River Road you ve gone to far.

3 Alumni Association Make a Note of It! Page 3 Got an Address Change? Please notify the HCSOAA of your address change by mailing it to the address listed on the front of the newsletter. Quarterly Meeting Schedule The schedule for the 2006 meetings is listed below. Please mark your calendars and come join us for food, fun, and fellowship. January 26, 2006 April 27, 2006 July 27, 2006 October 26, 2006 Volunteers The HCSOAA is seeking volunteers to serve on various Committees. We have openings on all the Committees listed on the front of the newsletter. Contact any Officer or Advisory Board member for details. Health Insurance Subsidy vs. Health Insurance Stipend What s The Difference? By Michele Hamilton, Human Resources Are you confused about the differences between the retiree subsidy benefit and the retiree stipend benefit? Well, you are not alone. Here is some information to help you understand these two separate benefits a little more clearly. Health Insurance Subsidy (HIS) The Health Insurance Subsidy (HIS) is a benefit provided by the Florida Retirement System (FRS) to assist retired employees with paying for retiree health insurance. The monthly amount of HIS is based on your service credit at retirement at a rate of $5 for each year of service up to a maximum of $150. Years in DROP do not count towards HIS benefits. The eligible retiree is responsible for applying for HIS through FRS. All retirees who receive a FRS benefit and can show proof of health insurance are eligible to apply. The HIS benefit has no age limitations or guidelines associated with it. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) allows retirees receiving HIS to exclude from taxable income all or a portion of HIS benefits. To be eligible for possible federal income tax exclusion, you must have either had your health insurance premiums deducted from your monthly FRS benefit or made your health insurance premium payments directly to the Sheriff s Office. The Florida Retirement System will send retirees a Form 1099-R yearly based upon information in their records and information provided by the Sheriff s Office. If your annual health insurance premiums paid during the year are more than the HIS benefits received, all of your HIS benefit is excluded from federal income tax. If your health insurance premiums paid during the year were less than the HIS benefits, only the amount of your premiums will be excluded. The IRS will not allow you to use your premium payments to Medicare as tax-exempt income. Health Insurance Stipend The Health Insurance Stipend is a benefit provided by the Hillsborough County Sheriff s Office to assist retiring employees with paying for retiree health insurance. The monthly amount of stipend is based on your service credit at retirement at a rate of $5 for each year of service up to a maximum of $150. Years in DROP do count towards stipend benefits. The eligible retiree is responsible for applying for the stipend through the Sheriff s Office by attaining the proper age and showing proof of health insurance. Age guidelines to be eligible for stipend benefits are as follows: Regular Class Retiree 62 to 65 years of age Sr. Management Retirees 62 to 65 years of age Special Risk Retirees 55 to 65 years of age Per IRS guidelines, the stipend is taxable as other income. The Sheriff s Office will send a Form 1099-R yearly based upon information in their records.

4 Page 4 Alumni Association ANNOUNCEMENTS A BIG Thank You to.. We re on the Web Charlie and Lisa McNabb who are sponsoring our January 26 th meeting. Thanks to all of our Alumni Members who help to help make the Alumni Association a great success. Thanks to HCSO Webmaster Elena Tewmey, the HCSOAA now has a web page attached the to the Sheriff s Office website ( To access the page, just go to the Sheriff s Office website and click on Directory, then click on the sub-category A. Our website includes the By- Laws, a list of Officers with contact person, HCSOAA merchandise, and information on Quarterly Meetings with the map to J. J. Taylor Distributing, Co. Door Prizes We still need donations for door prizes for our January 26 th meeting. Those wishing to donate may contact Ken Schintzius at Elections As a reminder, The Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office Alumni Association will be holding elections for President, Vice President, Treasurer and Secretary at our January 26, 2006 Quarterly Meeting. Any interested party should submit their name in writing and send it to HCSOAA, P. O. Box 6843, Brandon, FL , or be prepared to submit the name nomination from the floor at the meeting. We asked that no full-time S. O. employees or retirees working full-time be nominated. Officers must be able to attend day, evening, and weekend meetings. Each Officer is elected to a 2-year term. President Ken Schintzius will be running for re-election, Bob Beckner will run for Vice-President, Walter Ray will run for Treasurer, and Judy Larsen for Secretary. Law Enforcement Torch Run The annual Law Enforcement Torch Run T- shirt/hat sale is underway. T-shirts sales benefit the Special Olympics. The cost of the t-shirt is $12.00 and the baseball style caps are $ If you buy both, the t-shirt is discounted to $ Shirts and hats will be made available for purchase at the January 26 th quarterly meeting or you can see Tammy Spencer at the Orient Road Jail. Quote of the Quarter It is never too late to be what you might have been. ~~George Eliot

5 Alumni Association Page 5 NEW RETIREES In Memory Of... Retirees Daniel Alejandro, LE Sergeant Sonny Fernandez, Jr., LE Detective Lartie Mason, Bailiff Sergeant Kathleen Perez, Crossing Guard Supervisor Current Employees Deputy Robert Chris Carrega Deputy Donald Caswell, Bailiff Lamont Akins, Sr. Matthew Beck Harry Bradley Clifford Brown, Sr. George Covais Gerald Dabbs Glenn Davis Leon Doby Charles Downie Robert Duffy John Harris Paul Hathcox Lawrence Hess Pamela Hess William Hill III James R. Kennedy John Lewter Samuel Massaro John Matera, Jr. John McDaniel Louis Meaders, Jr. Ralph Newkirk Michael Olson Ricky Richardson Frederick Sails William Salisbury Sharon Sanderson Albert Scalzo Joseph Shillady, Jr. Deborah Sierra Edward Van Pelt Richard Wigh Congratulations to you all!!!!

6 HCSO Alumni Association P. O. Box 6843 Brandon, FL