ALBANY – A total of 665 state and local government workers — including 28 from the Lower Hudson Valley — have permission to collect both a full-time salary and retirement payments, according to a new report.

The Empire Center, a fiscally conservative think tank, on Monday released a list of the public employees in New York with a “211 waiver,”which allows for so-called “double dipping” if a retired public worker returns to work in a government job.

Topping the list was Vinay Pital, a psychiatrist with Herkimer County Mental Health Services who can collect a $93,204-a-year pension while providing contractual services of up to $210,000, according to the Albany-based group.

The list is also populated with dozens of police officers, many of whom now work in an administrative role with other agencies or as investigators for district attorneys. Among those are Rockland County Undersheriff Robert Van Cura, the former South Nyack-Grand View police chief who collects an annual salary of $128,100 and retirement payments of $121,764.

Three others from Westchester have combined incomes topping $200,000.

Robert Kelly, a retired Mount Vernon police captain promoted recently to chief investigator in the Westchester District Attorney’s Office, has a combined income of $239,569. White Plains Public Safety Commissioner David Chong’s salary and New York Police Department pension total $236,640. Mount Vernon police Commissioner Terrance Raynor, who retired as chief criminal investigator for the Westchester District Attorney’s Office, has a combined income of $202,246.

State law prevents government workers under the age of 65 from collecting their full retirement benefits if they return to public work and earn more than $30,000 a year. But that restriction can be waived in two-year blocks if the worker’s employer successfully obtains a 211 waiver.

The number of waivers in the Empire Center’s database is current as of mid-2014 and was obtained through a Freedom of Information Law request, the organization said.

“The system encourages government workers to retire even if they want to continue working for employers who need or value their services,” Empire Center executive director Tim Hoefer said in a statement. “At the same time, these waivers can appear unfair and open to abuse from a taxpayers’ perspective.”

Hoefer said the waiver system points to the need for a defined-contribution retirement system — known by most as a 401(k)-style plan.

But Stephen Madarasz, a spokesman for the state Civil Service Employees Association, said the Empire Center’s conclusions are misguided. CSEA is the state’s largest public workers union.

“They fall into two categories, the people who get the waivers: political appointees and people with a law enforcement background who are going into enforcement-sensitive jobs,” Madarasz said. “Almost no one else. It certainly is not any kind of evidence that this is something wrong with the pension system, other than it is being taken advantage of for political reasons.”

Several others in the Lower Hudson Valley are double dipping but do not require waivers, either because they hold elected office or have reached the age of 65.

In Rockland, County Executive Ed Day’s salary is $139,578. He retired in 2000 as a lieutenant-commander in the New York Police Department. His pension was not available Monday. Sheriff Louis Falco retired from the department when he was elected and has a combined income of $279,448.

Harrison Supervisor Ron Belmont, who retired as town recreation superintendent, makes $279,684. Mount Vernon Mayor Ernest Davis drew a pension from his years as mayor after losing the 2007 election — but now collects both after being re-elected in 2011. His combined income is just under $210,000.

John Noonan, who turned 65 this year, has a total income of $229,000 between his state police pension and salary as deputy chief investigator for the Westchester District Attorney’s Office.

© 2014 The Journal News