Last Thursday, the budget committee of the BOE met to discuss a variety of topics. One of which was the presentation by Ominigroup, a company that does  essentialy paperwork required by the IRS for public school districts’ 403(b), 457(b), and 401(a) programs.

If you are familiar with the ubiquitos 401k, then these plans are essentially similar. They exist so that public education organizations get the tax treatment extremely similar to a 401(k) plan. Money that goes into a 403(b) plan are made before income tax is paid on it, and allowed to grow tax deferred until the money is taxed as income when taken out of the plan. Which brings us to why the 403b was created. Historically teachers could only invest in TSA’s (Tax Sheltered Annuities) and the 403b introduced the ability to purchase mutual funds instead.

Gaining an understanding of the 403b took 5 minutes on google. Naturally I did this while Opdahl was shuffling papers and stammering through the lamest presentation of a financial product I have ever witnessed. Ever. I say that, even including the time in the fourth grade where the fake stock market crashed because of a run on chocolate milk before official trading began.

Here’s a clear cut example of why Stuart Opdhal should be fired. As a CFO, he should be making a presentation about what financial obligations and plans are being evaluated. It ends up that the rep from Omnigroup has to explain what their role is here, since BOE budget committee members were confused about whether Opdahl is saying this is a retirement plan or not. He can’t answer the question. I’m dying for someone to interrupt and ask him for a simple yes or no here. According to the Omnigroup rep, Omnigroup is not selling a plan, they are selling their services in providing the district  compliance and remittence services.

Opdahl is not explaining what plans are currently be offered by the district, what could be offered by the district, or what opportunities for plans to be offered by the district should be. He in reality, probably doesn’t even know what he’s talking about.  The rep from Omnigroup is fidgeting, probably because this presentation is about as bad as she’s ever witnessed as well.

Board members Kimmel, Burnett and Chairamonte are asking questions. I’ll sum them up: “whatchoo talking ’bout Willis?”

Opdahl is complaining that they need a third party administrator to make sure that all paperwork is filed with the IRS correctly. Really? Really? Usually it is the vendor of the product, eg retirement plans themselves, that are under the obligation to file paperwork correctly. So why is a third party compliance group needed? Is this because Opdahl doesn’t have any financial staff in place to review contributions and compliance against rules and regulation?

The Omnigroup rep starts a bit of a sales pitch about how they can help sort through the competing plans and make it easier to understand what the contribution limits and loans etc.

The rep triumphantly explains that Omnigroup works for the district, not the individual employee, and indemnifies the district with a cap of 1.5 million. The fee for the Omnigroup service is $30 per plan particpant per fiscal year. There’s a one time setup fee. ($21k/ year) and some others. There’s a detailed contract all ready for the BOE to sign. I don’t see it, and Burnett rattles off some numbers. Easy money to Omnigroup since I bet that there’s a minimum partcipation clause that no one is talking about.

Will anyone ask what Connecticut school district currently use them?

Corda jumps in to explain that an employee can only invest in a 403B if the district adopts a plan. The plan is certified by Omnigroup essentially. I’d really like to know if the Corda thought bubble contained the realization that Opdahl has essentially revealed his pea sized understanding of financial products. Opdahl is making used car salesmen look good.

Kimmel asks why there’s no other companies here also making presentations.

Opdahl seems disturbed. No, seriously, more than usual. He’s upset that Kimmel is asking that question. You can see his thought bubble. How dare Kimmel even question him!

Burnett does ask what other school districts are using the Omnigroup. The Ominigroup rep says that Greenwich and Darien are just starting, and that they’ve responded to an RFP from Bridgeport.

Kimmel asks about whether Norwalk used an RFP to solicit companies.

Opdahl says they didn’t have to use an RFP. Note the careful non answer to the question.

Fortunately they table the decision because they want to see other groups present here. Maybe they will even require that Opdahl issue an RFP for this.

The good news is that by having a budget committee that actually meets, discusses and examines things, there is now some guidance and oversight being executed. But, the problem of Opdahl’s major league incompetence and total lack of accountability and qualifications for the job he holds is a huge problem.

If Corda really cared about his teaching staff and the students of Norwalk he would ensure that every educational dollar is working for the school district. Instead he allows Opdahl to operate in the most inefficient way possible. Opdahl should be fired, or as he seems to have a history of, offer up his resignation effective immediately.

I sincerely hope that the teacher’s union question why Opdahl, with no financial qualifications, would ever be placed in a position to make a decision on a retirement plan, that impacts every teacher.