$100K Club of NJ Retirees Grows 75% in 3 Years

For Immediate Release:


New Jersey's elite $100K Club of retired public officials has ballooned by 75 percent in the last three years.

A total of 1,731 retirees collect $100,000 a year or more from state pensions – an increase of 739 pensioners since 2010, according to a New Jersey Watchdog analysis of Treasury data.

New Jersey Watchdog also found:

• Sitting at the top of the list with $195,000 annual pensions are former Jersey City school superintendent Charles Epps and retired Essex County College president A. Z. Yamba.
• Among local governments, the City of Paterson is the capital of the $100K Club. Paterson has 34 retirees receiving $100,000-plus, followed by Hoboken and Bergen County with 26 each and Paramus with 25.
• Retired police and fire officials are most likely to be to $100K Club members. The Police and Firemen's Retirement System has 794 six-figure pensioners – trailed by the Teachers' Pension and Annuity Fund with 527, Judicial Retirement System with 283 and Public Employees Retirement System with 127.
• The overwhelming majority of PFRS $100K retirees – 737 or 93 percent – took advantage of "special retirement." It is an exclusive provision in state statute that allows police and fire officers – but not other public employees – to retire at relatively young ages.

The story is now online at http://newjersey.watchdog.org. The direct link to the story – including New Jersey Watchdog's lists of $100K Club retirees – is http://newjersey.watchdog.org/2014/02/24/100k-pension-club/.