NJ WatchDog: $100,000-plus state pensions double in New Jersey

(graphic by Mark Lagerkvist)

By Mark Lagerkvist | New Jersey Watchdog

New Jersey’s $100K Club of retired public officials has more than doubled in the past four years, according to a New Jersey Watchdog analysis of state Treasury pension data.

As 2014 ended, 1,988 retirees were collecting state pensions in excess of $100,000 a year – the elite “1-percenters” among New Jersey’s 285,000 retirees. That number has grown quickly since 2010 when the count was 971.

New Jersey Watchdog found:

• The distinction of richest pension – $195,000 a year – is shared by former Jersey City school superintendent Charles Epps and retired Essex County College president A.Z. Yamba.
• Twenty-three of the 29 retirees who get more than $150,000 a year are retired school administrators.
• The City of Paterson is the capital of the $100K Club with 36 retirees, followed by Bergen County with 34, Hoboken with 28 and Atlantic City with 27.
• Local law enforcement and fire department retirees draw the most six-figure pensions. More than 47 percent (943) of the $100K Club members receive benefits from the Police and Firemen’s Retirement System.
• Of those PFRS pensioners, nearly 93 percent (873) took advantage of “special retirement,” a provision in state law that enables police and fire officials – but not other public employees – to collect full pensions at relatively young ages.

The story is now online at http://watchdog.org/200210/nj-100k-pensions-double/.

Click here for New Jersey Watchdog's list of $100K Club's 1,988 retirees ranked by pension pay.

Click here for an A-Z alphabetized list of those pensioners.

Click here for the list sorted by the retirees' governmental employers.