Another pension scandal has hit the news in Milwaukee County. Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reporter Dave Umhoefer, with the aid of two actuarial consultants — and cheered on by local citizens and our friends at Wisconsin’s Citizens for Responsible Government — broke the story in late July.

Using open records law requests, he uncovered the fact that hundreds of county workers had been allowed — encouraged! — to pump up their pensions by “buying back” early years of ineligible service into “pension-worthy time.”

You may have this idea that a pension is something that you put money into, and then (after years of managed investment) you take out later, upon retirement.

In government, however, people like to fuzzy things up. Did you neglect to put money in a pension during some early years of work? No problem. Later, after the fact, just pretend that you did. Just say you had invested. As the saying goes, close enough for government work! No pain, much gain.

Of course this is shady, breaking all sorts of laws. Of course it hurts the taxpayers, stuck with a bill in the tens of millions. And of course, the chief of the pension fund got the biggest slice of benefits.

This is another local story worth watching. A scandal like it may pop up in your town, too, if anyone takes the trouble to root around, looking through boring government finanicial records. That’s where the crimes often lie hidden.

This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.