The number of retirees in the taxpayer-funded New York State retirement system that received a pension of $200,000 or more climbed to 54 last year, according to the non-partisan think tank “The Empire Center.” Five retirees received more than $300,000 a year in their publicly paid pension.
The biggest budget busting publicly subsidized pension in all of New York State belongs to Dr. Shashikant Lele, who last worked at the Roswell Park Cancer Institute in Buffalo. His pension for 2023 was a whopping $437,328.
And you, the Suffolk County taxpayer, paid for every penny.
“New York’s pension system was designed over a century ago—and it wasn’t designed for this. The prescription here is for Albany to put future hires in a more modern, more flexible retirement plan such as the ones offered to SUNY faculty or political appointees,” said Empire Center Research Director Ken Girardin.
Rounding out the top ten taxpayer funded pensions in the State of New York for 2023 are:
Richard J. Batista, Nassau Health Care Corp., $339,874
Paul E. Scott, Nassau Health Care Corp., $328,919
Brian M. Murray, Erie County Medical Center Corp., $317,219
Leonard O. Barrett, Nassau Health Care Corp., $316,256
Jorge L. Benach, SUNY Stony Brook, $297,284
Harlan Kosson, Wayne County, $274,421
George M. Philip, NYS Teachers Retirement System, $263,593
Narasimhan L. Narasimhan, SUNY Downstate, $259,642
Elsie M. Santanafox, Nassau Health Care Corp., $259,317
More than 467,000 retirees receive a New York State pension, but those individuals did not necessarily work for New York State. Government workers in local municipalities, public authorities, school districts, and publicly managed hospitals are eligible to receive a New York State pension after working “in the system” for a number of years.
Benefits are determined by a government worker’s start date (what Tier in the pension system they started in) and years of service. A public pension is calculated by the average of the three highest years of salary.
The pension fund is managed by the Office of New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli.
You can see the full list of New York State pension data by visiting the Empire Center’s website SeeThroughNY.net. On that website, 467,419 retirees are listed who earn a combined $14,503,853,197 in public pension benefits.
All New York State pension paychecks are exempt from paying New York State income tax.