Can the Village really go on offering Six figure pensions ?
July 28,2013
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, New Jersey has 1,474 retirees receiving $100,000 or more in state pensions 7 are from the Village Ridgewood .
The question is not whether a certain person deserves or dose not deserve a six figure pension, the question is can a town of close to 25,000 people afford to continue to offer 6 figure pensions ?
This is money that was promised via contract , but should or can the Village continue to make these promises in the future ?
In the state of New Jersey former Jersey City school superintendent Charles Epps heads the list with a $195,000 annual pension. When he stepped down last year amid controversy and a gag order, Epps also received a $268,200 settlement plus $85,000 for unused sick time, according to NJ.com.
All of the Top Five pensioners are retired school executives. A. Z. Yamba, former president of Essex County College, is tied for the lead at $195,000. He is trailed by John Richardson, Ridgefield Park schools, $185,454; Vincent Ascolese, North Bergen schools, $180,180; and J. T. Morton, Sparta schools, $171,773.
Click here for the full story : https://newjersey.watchdog.org/2013/04/15/njs-100k-club-of-retirees-grows-50-percent-in-two-years-investigative-report-by-mark-lagerkvist/
When police retire early why are they allowed to collect pensions, why don’t they have to wait till they are 65? They are bankrupting the system. The pension system is in need of serious overhaul.
Why do cops pad their pension with OT in the last years? When the system goes bankrupt they will have themselves to blame.
All future public employees should be required to self-fund IRA/401K etc. Fixed benefit pensions are a way for municipalities to go bankrupt.
Police and fire pension system is one of the most solvent in the country, despite being raided by Gov Whitman in the 90’s and the towns never had to pay back.
Secondly, Nj pensions are calculated by an average of the last 3 year base salary only, no ot or holiday pay allowed.
Wow, the $100K NJ state pension club is up 50% in two years to 1,474 members ? How is that sustainable growth ? 43% of those in the $100K club draw their pension from the PFRS, and 92% of those took a “special retirement” at relatively young ages, which is a privilege only afforded to those in public safety and the judiciary. Only 30% were teachers, 19% were judges, and only 8% were members of PERS. I’m sure this rapid growth has something to do with the fact that anyone who retired or had 25+ years of service time as of Jan 1, 2012 (which grandfathered them), only has to pay 1.5% of their healthcare premium with no changes to contributions for current retirees at this time. Under Chapter 78 PL 2011. younger union employees and new union hires will have to pay up to 35% (pretax basis) of their healthcare premiums after a four year phase in whenever they come under a new CBA after this date.