Cayuga County legislators voted in August to reduce their official work week from 35 to 30 hours. Because pension time is calculated by dividing salary by hours worked, the change resulted in a slight bump in the small pensions they will receive.

While the main debate on the measure centered on whether legislators should increase their own benefits – even minimally – when others in the county are suffering cutbacks, it also raised the question of how much work legislators actually perform to earn their pensions and their salaries.

The answers from individual legislators, it turns out, are varied and often contradictory. Three-month time logs filed with the state Comptroller’s Office for pension calculation purposes show an enormous amount of work for legislators who earn a base salary of $10,100.

The self-reported three-month logs, obtained by The Citizen through a Freedom of Information request, are newly required this year by the state for pension calculation purposes but do not affect the lawmakers’ salaries, which are fixed. The records show legislators working seven days a week for months at a time, but are difficult to verify and often contain claims that seem to contradict other records….

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