The state’s highest court has received a request to hear a lawsuit vital to the public’s right to know where its money is being spent: the case of a nonprofit suing the NYPD pension fund for pensioners’ names.

The Court of Appeals should take up the matter — and then rule for full disclosure.

The Empire Center, which posts government data on SeeThroughNY.net, asked the fund’s board for the names of retirees and their pension amounts. The board said no. The center sued — and inexplicably lost at trial and on appeal.

The courts’ confusion springs from a single word. Under state law, names and salaries of employees are always public, as are retirees and their pensions. Information on “beneficiaries,” who are survivors of deceased cops, aren’t public.

The lower courts mistakenly considered the retirees to be beneficiaries and therefore protected from disclosure. Very wrong.

There is no reason to keep this information locked up — and about $8.5 billion reasons a year to city taxpayers to let it out.

This goes beyond the NYPD. The two biggest city pension funds, for teachers and other civilian employees, have stopped releasing names. The $90 billion state teachers fund is now concealing the names of the retirees who get a combined $5.6 billion a year…..

Read article here