During the first few years after Wall Street prices bottomed out in 2009, public-pension funds across the country reaped double-digit returns. They were riding a bull market pumped up by ultra-low interest rates, and it wouldn’t last. Now pension managers have been struggling to break even — the predictable outcome of a funding strategy that continues to expose taxpayers to unreasonable long-term risks. Read More
Since last year, more than five-hundred people have gotten permission from the state to double dip on public pensions and their salaries from state or local governments. Your tax dollars are paying for it. Read More
More than 500 people have sought and received permission to collect public pensions while being paid by state or local governments since 2015, according to data added today to SeeThroughNY. Read More
A recent report from the Empire Center shows the average New York state teacher who retired after working 30 years for the state's public schools collected an average of $67,476 per year in pension income, which is not subject to state income tax or federal payroll tax. These pension recipients are also eligible for Social Security and often have free or low- cost health insurance. Read More
New York has made a compact with police officers: Their incomes will be preserved for life in the event that they are disabled in the line of duty. Read More
Teachers, principals, superintendents and other public school employees in the Capital Region who retired last year with at least 30 years of service earned an average pension of $60,466, according to new data from the Empire Center. Read More
Pension payments to 78,523 New York City public school and City University of New York retirees were added today to SeeThroughNY, the Empire Center's transparency website. Read More
The new ruling stems from the Albany-based Empire Center’s Freedom of Information Law request in 2014 seeking the names of people receiving pensions through the New York City Employees’ Retirement System. Read More