How Much Is Enough?
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According to the Town of Plymouth's website: Home»Departments»Human
Resources»Salary Schedules: FY12 (Fiscal Year 2012) [for] Superior [police]
Officers, a step level 4 Sergeant's [Vecchi's] base salary is sixty-two thousand nine
hundred and thirty 23/100 ($62,930,23) dollars. Not taking into account annual cost-of-living-
adjustments (COLAs), overtime, shift differentials, and other additional
contractual pay incentives, it is not uncommon for municipal police officers to make as
much as double their base salary, if not more (see 1 page FY12 Salary Schedule for
[Plymouth Police] Superior Officers marked "C").
According to Scott Vecchi's Statement of Financial Interest (SFI) for Calendar
Year 2013 that he filed with the Massachusetts State Ethics Commission on May 19,
2014, he claimed to have made one hundred thousand ($100,000.00) dollars in his job as
a Sergeant in the Plymouth Police Department in 2013 (see page 2 and back of page 2 of
9 page Statement of Financial Interest for Calendar Year 2013 marked "D").
Vecchi also claimed a mere fifty-four thousand ($54,000.00) dollars in gross
earnings from Plimoth Transportation in his fiscal year 2013 Statement of Financial
Interests, even though he listed himself as one hundred (100%) percent owner of that
business which is recorded as having received more than a half million dollars in
Medicaid payments in that year alone! In 2013, GATRA paid Plimoth Transportation four
hundred eighty-four thousand six hundred eighty-one 22/100 ($484,681.22) dollars, while
CCRTA paid Plimoth Trausportation ninety-eight thousand three hundred forty-eight
12/100 ($98,348.12) dollars, for a total of five hundred forty-three thousand three
hundred forty-eight 12/100 ($543,348.12) dollars, paid by Medicaid through MassHealth
for non-emergency opioid addiction treatment related transportation services! Somehow,
however, Vecchi declared less than a mere nine point four (9.4%) percent of those monies
as his gross earnings in 2013. In all, Vecchi declared his own personal earnings to have
been one hundred seventy thousand ($170,000.00) dollars in 2013, alone.
It is common knowledge in the professional Accounting community that most
Taxi, Cab and Livery services employ their drivers as so-called "independent contractors"
who receive annual 1099 forms for which they are personally responsible for their own
payroll tax deductions. Those employees generally receive no health, dental, retirement or
other employment benefits, and serve at the will of the employer. They generally receive
a percentage of each of their fares* as well as tips, and cost the employer the bare
minimum in expense to employ (* $4.00 for the first mile and $3.50 for each additional
mile).
The question arises, therefore, whether: 1.) Vecchi is such a poor business man
that his expenses exceed ninety (90%) percent of his businesses gross earnings; 2.) he was
not forthcoming in the filing of his Statement of Financial Interests with the State Ethics
Commission; or 3.) he is hiding his profits in the name of his corporation, possibly in an
attempt to circumvent, defer, or shelter himself from payment of taxes. There is also the
possibility that Vecchi has been salting his business profits away in the form of tax deferred,
defined-contribution pension accounts such as Individual Retirement Accounts
(IRAs) and 401(k)s in he and his wife's names. Even then, however, considering the
maximum allowable employee salary deferral (contributions) plus maximum matching
employer contributions, based upon known Medicaid receipts, likely profits and Vecchi's
declared salary from Plimoth Transportation, the numbers simply don't add up.
According to the Town of Plymouth's website: Home»Departments»Assessors'
Office»Property Value Search: Property [value] Assessment Data for FY16 (Fiscal
Year 2016), Scott Vecchi' s 2014 built 3,192 square foot, 4 bed 3 bath, single-family
colonial style home (parcel ID: 084-000-009-009; Book-Page: 44012-334), is five
hundred sixty-six thousand five hundred ($566,500.00) dollars (see 1 page Plymouth
Assessor's Office: Property Valuation marked "E").
Also according to Vecchi's Statement of Financial Interest for FY 2013 (see "D"),
his wife is employed as an Associate Scientist at Biogen® Corp. of Cambridge, a multibillion
dollar developer, manufacturer and marketer of medicines and medical therapies.
It is very likely, therefore, that she makes considerably more than he does as a Patrol
Sergeant with the Plymouth Police Department. Then there are the fees Vecchi
supposedly makes annually as a Lawyer; as a Real Estate Broker; an Adjunct Faculty
member at Quincy [Community] College; owner of Plimoth Transportation, Inc. d/b/a
Mayflower Taxi; and CEO of his so-called "Vecchi Enterprises". So just how much is
enough for this self-described entrepreneur?
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