ST. LOUIS – The retired head of the Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District has come under fire for a generous perk that allowed him to collect tens of thousands of dollars for unused sick time – and that’s not all.

Brian Hoelscher, the former executive director and CEO of MSD, received a six-figure payout for unused sick time ($50,000) and vacation days ($61,000).

Taxpayer watchdog Tom Sullivan discovered the deal.

“I think that the taxpayers are taking care of him quite enough at $241,000 as a salary, plus he’s headed for a pension of $134,000 a year, so he’s being very well taken care of,” he said. “At MSD, they believe in taking care of themselves but for someone in that salary bracket to be paid also for unused sick days and unused vacation days is too much, I would say.”

Bess McCoy, MSD Project Clear spokesperson, doesn’t see it that way.

“It’s very common among public sector employers to offer compensation for unused vacation time,” she said. “This is not an unusual benefit and is actually a major way for us to help retain employees and also save our customers the cost of a high turnover rate.”