A fiscally conservative advocacy group from the Midwest arrived in Albany to propose an intriguing math experiment: If retired public employees maxed out their pensions by retiring early at age 55 and living to the ripe old age of 85, who would get the biggest hypothetical payout?
Philip W. Wood, a retired SUNY vice chancellor for capital facilities, leads the pack in this latest iteration of the ongoing debate over public pension costs. According to Taxpayers United of America, Wood’s $186,295 annual pension would be worth about $6.9 million over 30 years. The sum assumes that he retired at age 55 and lived to be 85 years old.
It would put him at the top of the group’s list of 100 top state pensioners.
While Wood’s potential payout sounds like a lot, it pales in comparison to the nearly $11.9 million estimated pension payout for James Hunderfund, the retired school superintendent in Commack, Suffolk County. Hunderfund, who collects $316,245 annually from the teachers retirement system, has been cited before as a poster child for the excesses of New York’s public sector pensions…..
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