Pa.’s top pension earners take home hundreds of thousands a year
More than 127,000 former
But despite reforms in the system -- which mostly affect future retirees -- and a move by some states to cap retirement payments, a separate class of Keystone State pensioners will continue to receive checks that alone put them among the top tier of all income earners in
As the costs of public pensions continue to be a point of debate for struggling state and municipal governments, the Inquirer and
They showed that 20 state retirees collect more than
Officials in the system say such retirees earned their benefits -- contributing a percentage of their pay to the state's defined-benefit plan, along with their employers. Critics say the six-figure payouts reflect a policy that isn't grounded in fiscal reality.
"Professional state employees should make a good living, but they are not entitled to make a killing," said
Many of the best-paid retirees worked in the court system, the legislature, or academia, the records show. Of the top 500, 124 worked at Penn State, and 143 at schools within the
The pensions traditionally are calculated using a formula that includes an employee's highest average salary over a three-year span and years of service.
The
Right behind him on the State Employees' Retirement System (SERS) list is
Retired
"I wanted to do theater, I had opportunity there, and that's what I did," said Kingsley, 85, who lives in
Asked whether his pension allowed him to live comfortably, he said: "Reasonably."
Schultz, 68, the former Penn State vice president, spent nearly four decades working for the university. His guilty plea to child endangerment for not reporting signs that
In the state's
Given that relatively few retirees receive them, the largest pensions aren't a significant driver of
What "really set
But past decisions to boost benefits continue to have an effect. One was lawmakers' decision in 2002 to create a separate plan for paying out SERS members whose pensions under the enhanced state formula would have exceeded the
Such plans are relatively common, said
The real issue, he said, are the salaries that lead to the largest pensions. "If you don't manage the base pay, then the whole thing is going to continue," Dreyfuss said.
"This extramural funding has also provided employment for numerous research support staff, and supported the training of more than 100 graduate students and fellows. All of which has contributed significantly to the economy of the Commonwealth," Jefferson said in an email.
Such retirement obligations ultimately are at least partly borne by taxpayers. Penn State receives state funding every year, as does the higher education system, and pension costs "are a very, very significant part of our annual budget," said
About half of the university system's 12,500 full-time employees, including more than half of faculty, choose a 401(k)-like defined contribution plan instead of the traditional SERS pension, Marshall said. The employer match for that plan is 9.29 percent.
In 21 states, a defined contribution plan -- the traditional kind of pension -- is the only retirement plan option offered to most faculty, according to Pew.
Some states have moved to cap pensions. In
Some lawmakers said
"The Commonwealth will no longer be on the hook for those exorbitant amounts," said state Rep.
But today's retirees are still owed pensions based on past rules. "Whether you like this pension reform or not, it's going to take years for this to emerge in terms of something meaningful," Dreyfuss said.
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