More than 2,100 New York state workers drawing pensions and salaries
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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@Gannett.com

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