Retire? Not for $525,000

St. Petersburg College president Carl Kuttler is walking away from more than a half-million dollars, but he's picking up a hefty salary increase in the process.

Kuttler by June 30 plans to forfeit a $525,000 retirement bonus, courtesy of the state's DROP program, in order to stay at the helm of the growing community college.

He says he's doing it because college administrators want him to stick around.

"The college is at a critical juncture," said Kuttler, 63, president of SPC since 1978. "A departure at this time would throw the college into a tailspin."

At the same time, Kuttler is getting a 10 percent raise, which his board says will bring his salary more in line with his experience and reward him for turning the two-year college into a four-year institution.

But there's more: Kuttler will be awarded a $50,000 bonus in each of the next five years to help offset the half-million loss he's taking by forfeiting retirement.

Under the proposal, which the board offered to Kuttler on Tuesday, his base salary will be $212,500. Adding in the bonus, plus allowances for insurance, car and housing brings Kuttler's total compensation package to $309,900.

That is more appropriate for the leader of a four-year college, said SPC trustee Kenneth Burke.

"It shows some symbol of his value to us," Burke said.

Kuttler's current base salary is $174,720. The average base salary of a community college president in Florida is $161,575, according to the Division of Community Colleges in Tallahassee.

But the president of Miami-Dade Community College earns a base salary of $212,638. Hillsborough Community College president Gwendolyn Stephenson makes about $213,500, including the car allowance and payments into a retirement plan.

Kuttler stands to lose at least a quarter-million in today's dollars by not retiring, assuming he collects all five years of his $50,000 bonus.

SPC's board of trustees wanted him around and instructed their lawyers to handle the negotiations.

"You all wanted him to stay," said Joe Lang, the attorney for the board, at a Tuesday board meeting. "We had to recognize the DROP and do some sort of reward system."

The DROP program, or Deferred Retirement Option Program, was started in 1998 and allows state workers to declare their retirement and then remain at work for a few years while the state invests in a high interest-bearing nest egg that is paid out to them -- as many as five years later -- in a lump sum.

U.S. Rep. Mike Bilirakis, who attended Tuesday's meeting of the college board, said he had no idea Kuttler was giving up so much money. But he was happy to hear that he's staying.

"He's just loved by the members of the board and the faculty. Very few people are able to follow those dreams up with a lot of reality and accomplishments," Bilirakis said. "He's just something else."

Former Gov. Bob Martinez said he wasn't surprised to hear that Kuttler is walking away from a half-million.

"He just has a huge love affair with that college," Martinez said.

County Commissioner Bob Stewart, who worked with Kuttler on several projects, said he didn't even know retirement was an option.

"In all these discussions, I guess we just made an assumption, and I guess we shouldn't, that Carl would be there forever," Stewart said. "I can't imagine him not being here at the college."

-- Adrienne P. Samuels can be reached at 445-4157 or samuels@sptimes.com .

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