I have posted on this before but the D&C has done a fairly reasonable job on this…it could have gone much much further…
Now it’s time for the people to step up…change these practices and get rid of the ones who out this into place…
But it won’t happen, sadly. Rochester IS a welfare city with a welfare mentallity. Like the last comment on the page, I too am bidding my time before escaping NY….

More than 2,100 New York state workers drawing pensions and salaries

Pension Double Dippers 44 pages/2100 workers from just one of the pension tiers….just a small tip of the iceburg…
“These records reflect only retirees from the New York State and Local Retirement System (NYSLRS). There may be retirees from one of the State’s six other public pension systems who are currently active on a State payroll. Additionally, this database does not include municipal employers as their payrolls are not processed by State Payroll, nor does it represent an exhaustive list of all State agencies as there are some authorities whose payrolls are also not processed by State payroll.”

ALBANY — More than 2,100 state employees collected both salaries and pensions last year, with 35 of them receiving more than $200,000 in combined compensation, a review of state records shows.
About 30 employees are also listed on the payroll of two state employers and received taxpayer-funded pensions, according to records of the State and Local Retirement System obtained by Gannett’s Albany bureau from the Comptroller’s Office through a Freedom of Information Law request.
The list is just a snapshot of the double dipping phenomenon in New York state because there are other types of double dipping that could be occurring in public sector employment.
The details show, however, that as Gov. Andrew Cuomo is expected to call for massive state layoffs because of New York’s fiscal troubles, some employees have been able to retire from their jobs, then go back to work and collect a lucrative salary from the state. About 220 employees had made more than $100,000 in pension and salary as of December, the latest figures available.
In some cases, the pension and salary came from the same employer from which they retired, which has raised questions about why some were able to return to the same jobs with a pension.
The records showed 323 state employees as of December were drawing a paycheck and pension from the same employer. About 60 percent of them work for facilities that serve people with developmental disabilities.
In all, 2,129 state employees had collected pensions and salaries last year, a total cost of $131 million, records show. The average employee on the list collected $61,479 in salary and pension. Most earned part-time salaries while in retirement.
Among the findings:

The highest recipient was George Philip, president of the State University of New York at Albany, who earned a $280,000 salary and a $261,000 pension — a total of $541,000. He spent most of his career working for the state’s Teachers Retirement System before moving over to SUNY.

The second highest earner was psychiatrist Venkata Satti, who retired in 2009 from the Elmira Psychiatric Center with a $173,650-a-year pension but also earned $151,480 last year by providing mental health services to prisoners.

Seventeen state judges collected salaries and pensions last year, the highest earner being state Supreme Court Judge Thomas E. Walsh II, a retired town and village judge in Haverstraw, Rockland County. State records show he earned a $104,687 pension and two salaries — $3,750 from the state Department of Taxation and Finance and $132,260 as a state judge.

Two workers collected two pensions each, plus a salary. Vincent Stile earned $86,141 in salary with the state Division of Homeland Security and two pensions totaling $79,230 from Suffolk County. Laird Petrie drew a salary of $77,500 from the state Comptroller’s Office and $19,763 from two pensions.

Petrie said he earned the money.

“I don’t see any issue with it,” he said.

While the double dipping is legal, some fiscal conservatives said the state should end the practice and move to a 401(k)-type defined contribution plan, which would limit the taxpayer funding of public pensions.
State pension costs are soaring for state and local governments as more workers retire and pension funds’ investments struggle because of the weak economy.
“It underscores the problem with the whole system,” said E.J. McMahon, executive director of the conservative Empire Center for New York State Policy.
“The system is part of one big gravy train. It’s a gravy train that serves the interests of the people on the train, but not the people who are paying the bill. Why do we need to offer such generous pensions to people who can retire early and then double dip?”
State agencies defended the long-standing practice, saying it allows them to retain experienced employees, often on a part-time basis, or keep workers in positions that may be hard to fill.
“It’s cheaper and obviously a long-term benefit of having people part time who have the experience and know-how to work the system and already have done these jobs,” said Dennis Tompkins, spokesman for the state Comptroller’s Office, which had 50 double dippers.
New York law requires the state to suspend pensions of retirees under age 65 who earn more than $30,000 in a public-sector job. And most of the 2,139 employees on the list from the Comptroller’s Office earned under $30,000 in salary last year.
But state and local government workers can get what is known as a 211 waiver to exceed the $30,000 salary limit, authorized under Section 211 of the state Retirement and Social Security Law.
The state Department of Civil Service said the number of waivers for state and local government jobs has stayed fairly consistent in recent years — an average of 272 on the local level and 139 for state government over the past three years.
The records from the Comptroller’s Office were a snapshot of the double dippers statewide. The list only included employees in the State and Local Retirement System, the state’s largest with more than one million current employees and retirees, but not other public pensions in New York, such as the ones for firefighters and police.
It also did not include retired state workers who went on to work in local governments or those who may have exceeded the $30,000 salary limit and had their pensions revoked. And it did not include individuals who may have a federal pension and work for the state or local governments.
The various psychiatric centers had 285 double dippers last year, and the top earners largely were psychiatrists. That’s second only to SUNY schools, which had nearly 320, mainly retired workers who now teach part time at the schools.
“We’ll hire them within limits of the law. For psychiatrics, especially in rural areas, recruitment is a challenge,” said Jill Daniels, spokeswoman for the state Office of Mental Health.
“In some cases, it’s just positions that are hard to fill. In other cases, it’s somebody working part time. The other important piece to it is it helps alleviate mandatory overtime.”
The issue of double dipping has been knocked in particular after 15 state lawmakers in recent years have used a loophole to collect their salary and pensions at the same time in the same job, some earning about $200,000 total.
Assemblyman David Gantt, D-Rochester, is among lawmakers last year who put in for a pension as they collect a salary for the same position. Gantt receives a $94,500 salary and is eligible for a roughly $82,000 pension, although the Comptroller’s Office hasn’t provided a final calculation on his pension amount.
Gantt has defended collecting a pension and a salary, saying he earned both. But he said Jan. 28 that he was using some of the pension money for scholarships for young people in Rochester, something he had already been doing.
State law allows elected officials who were in office before 1995 to begin collecting their pensions at age 65, even if they stay in the same job.
The issue came up during last year’s gubernatorial campaign after Cuomo tapped Rochester Mayor Robert Duffy as his lieutenant governor candidate. Duffy, a former Rochester police officer, collects his $70,000-a-year pension and his salary, now $151,500, as lieutenant governor. Republicans criticized Duffy for it.
As attorney general, Cuomo cracked down on pension abuses in recent years, including school officials who retire and then return to lucrative administrative posts. And the state in recent years also tightened guidelines over the 211 waiver process.
Assemblyman Michael Fitzpatrick, R-Suffolk County, said the state should simply end the practice and force workers to forfeit their pensions if they return to work.
“In my opinion, you should not be collecting a pension until you are absolutely retired,” he said. “And if you’re retired, you should not take a job in state service. That’s how you stop this.”
JSPECTOR

Includes reporting by Journal News database editor Cathey O’Donnell.

Findings

2,129 state employees collected pensions and salaries last year, which cost the state a total of $131 million. 323 people drew paychecks from the same government entity from which they retired. 35 people made more than $200,000 in pensions and salaries in 2010, and about 220 made over $100,000 in combined compensation. About 30 workers “triple-dipped,” collecting two salaries and a pension, or in two cases two pensions and a salary.

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Some Comments:

This is not teachers’ retirement — non-teachers: If you are a Tier 1, 2, 3 or 4 member of the NYS Employees’ Retirement System (ERS) in a regular retirement plan, you may retire at age 55 with a minimum of 5 five years of service credit. Tier 1 members may retire at age 55 with no benefit reduction. If you are a Tier 2, 3 or 4 member, you can retire with full benefits at age 62 or age 55 with 30 years of service credit. If you have less than 30 years of service credit, your benefit will be reduced by a percentage for each year of retirement prior to age 62.
If you are a Tier 5 member, you may retire at age 55 with a minimum of ten years of service credit. Tier 5 uniformed court officers or peace officers employed by the Unified Court System can retire with full benefits at age 62 or age 55 with 30 years of service credit. All other Tier 5 members will receive a reduced benefit if retirement is prior to age 62.

This is just the State of New York workers, go back and look at school districts,cities and counties. Try looking at (County Supervisor)Maggies husband and his police pension and current job. Wasnt the town of Greece old supervisor retired and over at RTS for a while? If you paid out a pension based on a 40 or 45 year working career,and set the pension to the approximatly 35-40% payout the SS pays with a cap a lot of fiscal problems melt away. The taxpaying nonpublic salaried public pays SS taxes their entire working lives, enrolls and contributes in a 401k plan and SAVES, SAVES, SAVES for retirement.

the politicians say they earned this double dipping money. What about people like myself, who work in the private world, why do I not get a chance to double dip like these guys? After all I am paying for these guys to double dip, along with my employer. I am fiscally responsible (I live within my means) and so is my employer as they are making money. These politicians and state workers think they earned this money, yet NYS is in a huge mess thanks to these people. So they are not doing a good job yet they continue to think they deserve to double dip.
Thats the kind of thinking that got us into this mess.

What you say makes a lot of sense if they would fix the abuses(spiking pensions with overtime). State pensions are exempt from taxation in NY. So the worker is able to reduce their taxes, leaving the rest of us to pay. Private sector retirees get an exemption, but only up to $20k. Another abuse that should be eliminated. But you are asking those with a conflict of interest to make the right decisions.

This is a story that needed to be told, thank you for exposing this to the public’s attention. The other needed revision is that overtime worked in the final years before retirement should not impact the pension amount. The final pension should be based soley on salary not overtime worked. Those who would defend this as a right to collect more than one source of income in our capitalistic system need to respect that these are “public service” jobs which should not be exploited.

Here’s a suggestion. Make double-dipping illegal. Nah state lawmakers would never go for that; after all they serve themselves and not the people who elect them.

This smells of favoritism and carelessness with taxpayer money, like most politics in New York state.

the pensions will bankrupt the state and the unions in the near future so for those of you that want bankruptcy it is coming but NY can’t declare bankruptcy so we’ll just lose jobs/population/wealth and NY will crumble like Detroit did into a region of depression but much of the south and central plain states are doing fine with the population/jobs shifting to those states….

And the average taxpayer with no pension paying the highest taxes in the country should continue to support this?
The state needs to declare bankruptcy and put things back into proper perspective. Unsustainable thievery, I didn’t vote for this, no one did except the thieves that benefit from it.

Interesting the number of public employees commenting here, defending the indefensible.

I retired from Xxxxxxxx Xxxxxxxxxx last June and all I’ve been getting is a partial payment on the 1st of each month for the last 8 months.
I wonder if our famous police chief Duffy had to wait for his?

This line makes no sense:
“State agencies defended the long-standing practice, saying it allows them to retain experienced employees, often on a part-time basis, or keep workers in positions that may be hard to fill”.
In this ecoomy we are having trouble filling high paying jobs that offer health isnurance and pensions?

NYS is the country’s biggest welfare state as it sold itself to the municipal unions long ago and we can thank that piece of garbage Kennedy for that. well, that and the Democrats themselves who have enslaved the taxpayers to their abusive and unproductive voting block.

The real problem are the politicians, they know these laws and voted them in for thmeselves. Last question, before everyone jumps on me. How do we justify a 30% raise to wellfare over 3 years? No wonder the unemployeed flock to NY

it would be less of a problem if they could not collect a pension and a paycheck until 65 or like SS reduce their pension By %.50 for every $1 earned over a break point.
Does Duffy get a full pension for 5 yrs as Mayor? Wouldn’t a ratio of 5/40 ( for a full career) make more sense?

I keep stating weekly bro. Once my daughter is of age I’m gone. I’ll never buy another piece of property, or dwelling in this state. I have a tractor path considered a road but, the monies aren’t there to fix it because too many hands are out for payment.
I just heard the other day, Hiroshima is in better economic times than Buffalo or Rochester. Or Syracuse. The very LIFE BLOOD is drained away Upstate.
Even if things were to change it’d take 50 years. Bye Bye