Findings from TUA’s pension project on Pittsburgh and Allegheny County are featured in this article at post-gazette.com. UPDATE: An update to the original release that this article is based on has been made here.
A Chicago advocacy group stopped in Pittsburgh on Monday to promote its campaign for scaled-back government pensions, but retirees and others said there’s more to pension figures than meets the eye.
Representatives of Taxpayers United of America are on a multistate tour to demand an end to defined benefit plans for government employees. During the first of four stops in Pennsylvania, the group provided the names and pension amounts for 85 city and Allegheny County retirees, saying the numbers show that government pensions are overly generous, straining municipal coffers and out of step with private-sector benefits.
“The math just doesn’t work for defined benefit systems,” Rae Ann McNeilly, the group’s director of outreach said. Many municipalities have contributed to unfunded liabilities with unreasonable earnings forecasts for retirement fund portfolios, she said.
Pension woes have afflicted Pittsburgh, which narrowly avoided a state takeover of its underfunded pension last year. The state pension funds for teachers and commonwealth employees also are seriously underfunded.
Taxpayers United calls itself a nonpartisan nonprofit. Christina Tobin, the group’s vice president, said it has a political action committee that’s made contributions to a handful of candidates.
The group said it obtained pension data by making Right-to-Know requests of city and county pension funds. It provided lists of 85 city and county retirees with annual pensions ranging from about $37,000 to about $180,000.
But officials said at least two of the figures — including the $180,000 attributed to retired city parking supervisor Charles Dayieb — were inaccurate.
“I don’t know where they got that one,” Mr. Dayieb, who officially retired 11 years ago but works two days a week as a store clerk, said with a laugh. Jim South, an attorney for the city’s municipal pension office, said Mr. Dayieb’s annual pension is about $27,000 a year; Mr. Dayieb put it closer to $20,000.
The 25 city police retirees with the biggest pensions receive from about $37,000 to about $52,000 annually, while their 25 counterparts from the fire department receive about $52,000 to about $72,000, the group said.
Joshua Bloom, attorney for the firefighters union, said the numbers lack context. Firefighters receive no Social Security, he said, while some worked extraordinary amounts of overtime.
In addition to naming retirees and their pensions, Taxpayers United estimated a “lifetime pension payout” for each. For the 25 city firefighters, the lifetime estimates ranged from about $1.6 million to about $2.1 million over 30 years.
Mr. Bloom said the estimates were offensive, partly because firefighters have a lower life expectancy than other demographic groups.
According to city data, former city solicitor George Specter is the non-public safety retiree with the biggest pension — about $52,000 a year.
He also draws a salary of about $115,000 as general counsel for the city’s Urban Redevelopment Authority.
Mr. Specter couldn’t be reached for comment. The agency’s executive director, Rob Stephany, said the city pension reflects Mr. Specter’s long career with the city.
Mr. Stephany said government agencies have a tough time attracting and retaining engineers, lawyers and other professionals. While their expertise is needed to protect the public’s interest, he said, they command higher salaries in the private sector.
With an annual pension of about $77,000, retired corrections officer Russell Strathen ranked fourth on the group’s list of highest-paid county retirees.
Mr. Strathen, who confirmed the amount of his pension, said he worked a lot of overtime that enabled him to “make a lot of money” and build his pension. If he hadn’t agreed to work those shifts, he said, other officers could have been forced to work overtime even if they would have rather been home with their families.
“You cannot leave inmates unattended,” Mr. Strathen said.
Mr. Strathen retired about two years ago after about 23 years on the job. He said the county could hire more officers if it doesn’t want to pay overtime to the current complement.
“I understand the public anger over it,” he said of public pensions. “You know, it’s a benefit I obviously took advantage of. It was there.”
The group wants to halt defined benefit plans for new government hires and put new workers on 401(k) plans. It also wants current government employees to begin contributing more of their salaries toward their pensions.
On Wednesday, the group will be in Harrisburg to press its demand for new pension laws and to highlight the pensions of state legislators. “There are some hefty ones there,” Ms. McNeilly said.
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CHICAGO–The President of Taxpayers United of America (TUA) today urged voters in the City of Princeton, Illinois, to vote “NO” on the March 20 referendum to adopt unlimited home rule taxing power, adding, “Compared to the average income in Princeton, city politicians and bureaucrats already are living like kings.”
“Right now, the City of Princeton must have support from a majority of voters in order to raise city taxes,” said Tobin. “If unlimited home rule taxing power is passed, the city could raise property taxes and create new taxes without asking voters for approval. In addition, adopting home rule would exempt the City of Princeton from the current 5% property tax cap. The city could then raise city property taxes by any amount, any time.”
“Home rule also would allow the City of Princeton to impose new taxes on businesses, gasoline, groceries, parking, and almost anything else.”
“Current and retired city bureaucrats already are rolling in money compared with Princeton residents. They don’t need more money from Princeton residents. The average annual income in Princeton is only $37,000, the median value of a home is only $102,000, and current unemployment stands at 10.2%. However, the current city salary (as of 12/31/11) of Jeffrey Fiegenschuh is $112,799, and the city salary of Leroy Drake is $111,263.”
“Retired Princeton bureaucrats also are raking in the dough. William Spitler pulls in $70,766 in pension benefits each year, and so far has collected total pension benefits of $932,639. Barry Schultz pulls in $59,729 in pension benefits each year and already has collected total pension benefits of $830,092.”
Click to view pension amounts:
“Princeton voters should go to the polls this March 20, along with their family members and neighbors, and vote ‘NO’ on the unlimited home rule taxing power referendum.”
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ALTOONA—Taxpayers United of America (TUA) today revealed retired government employee pensions for Altoona and Blair County. Many Pennsylvania government employees are becoming pension millionaires when retired.
“Many government retirees make more in pension payments than the private sector taxpayers make in salaries,” stated Christina Tobin, TUA Vice President. “Both the economy and the pension system are in serious trouble. While taxpayers struggle to save for their own retirement and fund the pension system, government retirees have to be concerned that their pension payments will continue.”
“I will deliver letters to Gov. Corbett and each member of the Pennsylvania General Assembly, calling for meaningful pension reforms that will be both fair and sustainable. TUA is ready to work with legislators to implement reforms that will preserve the system for those that are relying on it, and bring relief to the taxpayers who are obligated to fund it.”
“Private sector taxpayers are struggling in the ‘Great Recession,’ with an average income of $34,000.
The unemployment/underemployment rate (U6) is 14.9%. The maximum Social Security annual payout is $22,000, regardless of how much one may have earned in their working career.”
“Reynold D. Santone, Jr., retired from the city of Altoona, collects an annual pension of $48,328. His estimated lifetime payout is $1,449,835.*”
“Mitchell Cooper, retired from the Altoona Police, has an annual pension of $42,852 with an estimated lifetime payout of 1,285,564*.”
“Retired Blair County employee, Mary A. Beckwith, has a lifetime estimated payout of $1,351,058* based on her actual annual pension of $45,035.”
“Pennsylvania government pension systems are making millionaires out of public employees at taxpayer expense. Ending pensions for all new government hires and replacing with social security and 401(k)s would eventually eliminate unfunded government pensions. If government employees would just increase their pension contributions, they would preserve their pension benefits. Anything less will ensure the system’s collapse and Pennsylvania government retirees will get nothing. We need a stable system that is fair to both taxpayers and beneficiaries.”
“Every employee deserves a fair wage for the work they do at the time they do it so they can plan for their own retirement, rather than counting on the bureaucrats who helped create such an unstable situation.”
“This is the time for the political courage to do what’s in the best interest of taxpayers, rather than the special interests. Let’s knock any politician out-of-office, who cuts bad deals with union bosses and corporations! Republican or Democrat, what’s the difference, with numbers like these?”
View pension amounts below:
All annual pensions included in this report are derived by annualizing the benefit amount provided by the legal representative of the subject fund.
UPDATE: An update to this release has been made here.
