One in six police officers and firefighters retiring from state and local agencies beyond New York City in 2012 qualified for annual pensions of at least $100,000, the Empire Center for New York State Policy reported Wednesday.

The data is posted Wednesday on the center’s government transparency website, www.SeeThroughNY.net.

The Police and Firefighter Retirement System is paying six-figure pensions to 202 of 1,225 individuals who retired last year, or 16.5 percent of the total, the center reported.

It is the highest total ever, it reported, based on an analysis of data going back to 2000.

The number of employees retiring in 2012 from other public-sector jobs with pensions of $100,000 from the Employee Retirement System was 80 out of 17,156, or 0.5 percent of the total, the center reported.

The pension for all employees retiring in 2012 from state and local police and fire agencies is $69,379, compared to $24,855 for ERS members, the center reported.

Half of the police and firefighters retiring last year qualified for pensions of more than $65,000, with the annual payments usually supplemented by continuing taxpayer-funded health insurance coverage, the center reported.

The PFRS and ERS cover most employees of state government, public authorities, counties, cities, towns and villages outside of New York City, whose workers belong to municipal pension plans.

The state systems also cover school district employees beyond New York City who do not belong to the New York State Teachers’ Retirement System.

© 2013, Rochester Business Journal