Mulligan received benefits despite law

Oct. 29--Republican Scranton mayoral candidate Jim Mulligan received five years of family health insurance through the Scranton Sewer Authority as its solicitor, despite a state law forbidding appointed officials like solicitors from getting the benefit.

The authority spent at least $87,088.26 on health and vision insurance for Mulligan and his large family between April 2006 and April 2011, when he resigned as solicitor, according to authority insurance invoices obtained by The Sunday Times through a Right to Know Law request.

The dollar amount could be several thousand dollars higher, but health insurance invoices no longer exist for 2005, and the first three months of 2006.

Under the state Municipal Authorities Act, sewer and other authorities may negotiate contracts for health insurance for employees and their dependents "but not its appointed officers and officials nor their dependents for hospital and medical benefits."

"First of all, I've never done anything illegal or wrong," said Mulligan, 60, who is married with nine children.

Even though he was authority solicitor for more than six years, Mulligan said he was unaware of that provision in the law governing authorities.

"No. 1, I was never told that," he said. "No. 2, it's my understanding that past solicitors were given benefits. Everything was above board. My bills, everything were approved by the sewer authority on a monthly basis. If there was a problem, they should have brought it to my attention, you know? That's not my fault. In fact, that's the reason I want to get involved in city government is to straighten out the incompetency that's going on here."

Attorney Jeff Belardi, authority co-solicitor with Mulligan, was surprised when told Mulligan received health care benefits.

"He got benefits?" Belardi asked.

Belardi said when he was hired, which was before Mulligan, authority officials told him he was ineligible for health insurance. The authority invoices show Belardi never received health insurance.

Before he was co-solicitor with Belardi, Mulligan sat on the authority board.

Mayor Chris Doherty nominated Mulligan to the board and the city council confirmed him in November 2003. He remained on the board until March 2005, when he resigned and the remaining board members named him authority co-solicitor.

Mulligan said he spoke then to Bill McDonnell, the authority executive director at the time, who outlined his compensation.

"Bill McDonnell laid out for me that this was going to be (my) compensation package, these were the rates you could charge, and incidentally you have full coverage benefits," Mulligan said. "I went to work for the sewer authority. Maybe five years later, I think it was Doherty said to me, 'I really need somebody at OECD, would you move over there?'"

Mulligan served as solicitor of the city Office of Economic and Community Development, or OECD, after he left the sewer authority in April 2011. McDonnell died in 2008.

During his debate Wednesday against Mayor Bill Courtright, the Democratic nominee in the Nov. 7 election, Mulligan said he had a contract with the sewer authority for legal services. However, authority executive director Jason Shrive said Friday he could not find one. Asked to produce the contract, Mulligan's spokesman, Matt Beynon, said in an email that Mulligan is looking for a copy, but "recently moved his office and ... is trying to find a document that is over 10 years old."

Thomas Stone, who replaced Mulligan as a board member and remained on the board until early 2016, did not dispute Mulligan's version of McDonnell's offer, but said board members initially did not know Mulligan received health insurance.

Once board members found out, they discussed the matter with Mulligan and told him he had to "make other arrangements" for health insurance, Stone said. He could not recall who brought up the matter or when it came up but said it could have been then-board chairman Matt Flynn who raised it. Flynn died in May 2011, the month after Mulligan left as solicitor.

In a statement issued Saturday, Mulligan said he "does not recall the specific conversation noted by Mr. Stone."

"However, I have known him to be an honest and honorable man. If these benefits were a concern, why were they not terminated during my time at the SSA? It is concerning that my compensation package has become a political football a decade after the fact and a little over a week before an election," he said.

Authority records show the authority viewed Mulligan's employment status differently at different times.

On his January 2006 application for authority health care benefits, Mulligan checked a box saying he's a full-time employee, but Mulligan billed the authority monthly for hourly legal services for the last nine months of 2006, all of 2007 and the first three months of 2008.

While working 40 hours a week often reflects a full-time employee, Mulligan never billed for more than 45.4 hours in any month during that period.

For 2008, the authority issued Mulligan two year-end tax forms. Mulligan received a 1099-Misc tax form showing he earned $11,692, and a W-2 form showing he earned $35,999.93, for a total of $47,691.93.

Under federal law, employees receive W-2 forms while non-employees receive 1099s.

For 2009, Mulligan received only a W-2 form showing he was paid $49,227.59. He did not submit any legal bills during the year.

For 2010, Mulligan received a W-2 showing he earned $13,375.39 as a full-time employee for the first three months of the year. He also received a 1099 showing he earned another $45,208.54 for the last nine months for a total of $58,583.93. Mulligan billed the authority monthly for the last nine months.

In 2011, he billed monthly the first three months and was paid $13,070. He then left the authority. He was issued a 1099 at the end of the year.

He did not bill for more than 48.4 hours in any month in 2010 or 2011. The authority no longer has tax forms for Mulligan for 2006 and 2007.

Efforts to reach former authority executive director Gene Barrett to find out why that happened were unsuccessful.

Jason Shrive, the current authority executive director, said he does not know.

"He took illegal health care for multiple years to the tune of thousands and thousands of dollars," Courtright said. "He's the solicitor. He should have known he wasn't able to get health care."

Contact the writer: [email protected]; 570-348-9147; @BorysBlogTT on Twitter

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