Lagerkvist: NJ $100K pensions double in 5 years

Retired New Jersey officials with $100,000-plus public pensions double in five years

The ranks of retired public officials who collect more than $100,000 a year from New Jersey pensions have more than doubled in the past five years, according to a NJ Spotlight analysis of state Treasury data.

When 2015 ended, 2,296 retirees were collecting six-figure pensions from state pension plans. It is a 131 percent increase above 2010, when the count was 992.

The top of the “$100K Club” is loaded with retired school executives. Former Essex County College president A.Z. Yamba leads the pack with $195,000 in annual retirement pay. Of the 30 pensioners who get $150,000 or more, 22 retired as educators.

But in sheer numbers, police and fire officials are predominate. Nearly half – or 1,131 pensioners – belong to the Police and Firemen’s Retirement System.

Of those PFRS retirees, 93 percent – or 1,050 – took advantage of a “special retirement” provision in state pension law. It allows law enforcement officers – but not other public employees – to collect full benefits after 25 years of service, regardless of age.

Ironically, the largest state pension plan – the Public Employee Retirement System – has comparatively few members in the $100K Club.

PERS has roughly 160,000 retirees, more than half of the state’s 300,000 pensioners. But just 172 – roughly one-tenth of one percent – get pensions of $100,000 a year or more. PERS is comprised of government workers who are not in the plans that cover educators, law enforcement and the judiciary.

Overall, less than one percent of state retirees belong to the $100K Club.

The complete story – and a database of state retirees collecting $100,000-plus annual pensions – are online at NJ Spotlight – http://www.njspotlight.com/stories/16/03/13/the-list-retired-nj-officials-with-100-000-plus-public-pensions-doubles-in-five-years/

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Mark Lagerkvist is a veteran investigative reporter who has worked for CNBC, News 12, Asbury Park Press, New Jersey Watchdog and other newspaper, television and online news outlets. His work has won more than 60 journalism awards, including honors from National Press Club, Scripps Howard Foundation, and Investigative Reporters & Editors (IRE). He can be reached at Mark@Lagerkvist.net.

NJ WATCHDOG: Last chance for NJ to keep Doublegate secrets

For immediate release:


A judge is giving the state’s Division of Criminal Justice one final chance to argue why an index of records from a hush-hush criminal investigation involving Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno should not be released to a New Jersey Watchdog reporter.

“I frankly don’t see why it should be kept confidential,” said Judge Mary C. Jacobson during a hearing in Mercer County Superior Court. “It’s highly unusual to keep a Vaughn index confidential.”

The 96-page Vaughn index lists 779 pages of documents gathered by DCJ during a probe requested in May 2011 by the Police and Firemen’s Retirement System board of trustees.

One allegation is Guadagno, as Monmouth County sheriff in 2008, made false and misleading statements that enabled her top aide to improperly collect an $85,000 a year pension in addition to his $87,500 salary. The facts were first reported by New Jersey Watchdog in October 2010.

Two months ago, the PFRS board learned the investigation was closed. But DCJ has refused to disclose the result of the Doublegate probe or any details.

“What the state overlooks is that the investigation itself is highly suspect,” argued the reporter’s attorney, Donald M. Doherty Jr., in court briefs. “It smacks of a dirty deal and the use of the investigative exemption to avoid exposing a sordid situation.”

Guadagno is a former deputy director of DCJ. Faced with conflict-of-interest concerns, Gov. Chris Christie did not exercise his constitutional power to appoint an independent investigator or prosecutor for a case involving his second-in-command.

Spokespersons for Christie, Guadagno and DCJ have declined comment on the case.

The full story is now online at http://newjersey.watchdog.org. The direct link is http://newjersey.watchdog.org/2014/04/14/doublegate-secrets-guadagno/.

How NJ Cops 'Clean Up' on Disability Pensions

For Immediate Release:


TAXPAYER TRAUMA! HOW NJ COPS 'CLEAN UP' ON DISABILITY PENSIONS

Timothy Carroll retired at age 33. He claimed he was "totally and permanently" disabled by the trauma of seeing dead bodies while working as a sheriff's officer in Morris County, New Jersey.

The real shock is Carroll then started a business that cleans up gory crime scenes, a New Jersey Watchdog investigation found. Yet the state continues to pay him a disability pension for life, a sum that could total $1 million or more.

Carroll's company – Tragic Solutions LLC, of Linden – specializes in removing human residue from "bloody and/or messy" scenes, including "murder, suicide, accidental, natural and decomposing deaths," according to its web site.

"This says there is a problem with the whole pension system, the way the whole system is set up," said John Sierchio, a trustee of the state Police and Firemen's Retirement System. PFRS paid out $175 million to 5,067 disabled retirees in 2011 – figures expected to rise when 2012 data are released.

The supposedly career-ending incidents have included a fireman who fell out of bed while sleeping, an officer who fell off his chair while sitting down, cops who slipped on wet floors or icy sidewalks, and a patrolman who suffered emotional trauma because his lieutenant yelled at him during roll call.

In New Jersey, it's relatively easy to fake or exaggerate an injury to get a disability pension. The PFRS has no staff to investigate fraud. Nor do any of the state's five other retirement funds for public employees. The Tragic Solutions case illustrates how weak laws, red tape and lack of enforcement contribute to the woes of a state pension system that faces a shortfall of nearly $42 billion.

The complete story is now online at http://newjersey.watchdog.org. The story is also scheduled to air during tonight's 11 p.m. newscast on NBC 4 New York, which produced its story in cooperation with New Jersey Watchdog.