Bill to end double-dipping

From the Daily News:

A Queens state senator wants to keep legislators from being able to collect a pension and salary at the same time.

Sen. Tony Avella (D-Queens) calls the double-dipping practice "disgraceful" and "highly unethical."

The Daily News reported on Monday how 18 current veteran state lawmakers have filed retirement papers in recent years after being re-elected so they could begin collecting their pensions while still serving.

Avella has a bill that would prohibit a lawmaker from collecting a pension while serving if that pension was earned from an elective public office.

"It would end once and for all this practice of double-dipping," he said. "You want to retire, retire."

BDB allowing developers to double-dip

From Crains:

In a change from last year, the de Blasio administration will let some residential developers double or even triple-dip into subsidy pools by using the same group of affordable apartments to qualify for a variety of programs—a practice it initially pledged to eliminate.

The pivot came to light as details of two housing programs were released in recent weeks. First, in late June the state legislature took a cue from the mayor and passed preliminary reforms to a property tax exemption called 421-a, requiring developers to set aside 25% to 30% of apartments in new buildings as affordable housing.

Then last Friday, the administration discussed the specifics of a new proposal called mandatory inclusionary zoning. The policy, which must be approved by the City Council, would set strict new affordability rules for any property that is rezoned, whether through a neighborhood-wide initiative or an individual property owner's request. In those situations, developers must also set aside up to 30% of all new condo or rental buildings as affordable.

The administration had initially envisioned developers meeting the requirements for these two programs separately, drawing a hard line against “double dipping” into multiple subsidy pools, which it believed limited the creation of low-cost units. In other words, affordable apartments built to satisfy inclusionary zoning requirements couldn’t also be used to meet 421-a benchmarks.

“If you want the tax exemption, you will have to do more," Deputy Mayor for Housing and Economic Development Alicia Glen told Crain’s in September, when the programs were still in their conceptual phases.

But the policies unveiled since then show a different approach.

Now you know why they keep coming back

From the Times Ledger:

City Councilwoman Karen Koslowitz’s (D-Forest Hills) previous stint at City Hall is paying off — literally.

Filings with the city Conflicts of Interest Board show Koslowitz is collecting an at least $60,000 pension in addition to her $112,000 base salary.

Koslowitz, who represented the central Queens neighborhoods of Forest Hills, Rego Park and Kew Gardens in the City Council in the 1990s, was re-elected to a third term in 2013.

Her office noted she had worked for the pension and was entitled to collect it.

Double-dipping still rampant

From the NY Post:

According to a just-released audit by state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli, New Yorkers, too, are getting hosed by some public employees.

The audit reviewed 345 workers at six state agencies and public authorities. It discovered that 75 held two public-sector jobs, lied about it on their timesheets and reaped double the pay.

“Dozens of public employees working for more than one public employer have managed to take advantage of lax oversight and take credit for hours they didn’t work,” DiNapoli said. “Our audits found supervisors were lax and often complicit in allowing employees to game the system.”

Like the nurse who claimed to work for both the state mental-health agency and a Bronx public school. Or the MTA track-equipment worker whose work schedule overlapped with his other job at the city Department of Environmental Protection.

What’s legal may be even worse. As The Post reported last week, a lawyer leaving the office of departing Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hynes will collect more than $280,000 in unused vacation pay.

Sears won't retire gracefully

From the Queens Courier:

Former 25th District Councilmember Helen Sears was recently appointed Deputy City Clerk and will likely oversee a massive influx of same-sex marriages on July 24, the day the governor-approved bill goes into effect.

“This was a no brainer,” said City Clerk Michael McSweeny. “She’s very qualified for the position and has decades of service for the people of Queens.”

She began her political career when she was elected to serve as the Queens County Budget Negotiator, and later in the City Council in 2001 where she served two terms. Her new office will be in Borough Hall in Kew Gardens.

According to their website, City Clerk is one of the oldest offices in New York City government" fitting since Helen Sears is one of the oldest people in New York City government. 82-year old Sears was defeated by Daniel Dromm in 2009. Seems like the Queens Machine is making Borough Hall a retirement home for "Senior Tweeders".

Another double-dipper?

Karen's a double-dipper

From the NY Post:

New financial-disclosure forms released yesterday show at least one member of the council, Karen Koslowitz, is double-dipping from the public trough, earning a $122,500 salary as a city lawmaker while collecting her city pension, of at least $60,000 a year.

Koslowitz built up her pension after 23 years on the city payroll, including a decade in the council that ended in 2001 after the arrival of term limits. But she was re-elected to the council in 2009 -- and after getting her pension.

The Democrat also held posts as a former deputy borough president in Queens and as a City Council aide in the 1980s. She declined to comment.

Catching the double-dippers

From the NY Post:

There's been a deep drop in double-dipping.

Comptroller John Liu turned up only 21 retirees in 2009 collecting both pensions and paychecks from the city without getting the necessary waivers, according to the most recent audits. Liu estimated they collected $313,797 in improper pay.

In his annual review a year before, the comptroller discovered 59 individuals in the double-dipping pool. He put their illegal take at $751,428.

"There appears to be a lot more enforcement," said one official.

Generally, a retired city worker under 65 isn't allowed to earn more than $30,000 a year when re-employed in another city or state job and collecting a pension.

Hundreds of retirees are granted waivers, most notably ex-cops who land jobs as investigators for the five district attorneys and other agencies.

Those without the waivers get snagged by extensive computer screenings conducted by Liu's office, which compares the roll of 329,601 city pensioners against the records of 409,530 city and 330,978 state employees.

Eleven of the 21 double-dippers cited by Liu in this round worked as consultants for the city.

Double-dipping legislators

MYFOXNY.COM - When most people retire, they leave their job, but not some New York lawmakers. A number of them are double dipping: collecting a salary and a pension.

Fox 5's Arnold Diaz got some details on Albany's dirty little secret. His investigation determined that 16 lawmakers are currently collecting a state pension as a retired legislator when it fact they're still on the job getting their full salary.

State legislators can legally double dip as long as they joined the state retirement system before 1995, have at least five years of service, and are at least 65 years old.

Other lawmakers say that loophole should be closed.

And here are the proud double-dippers

From the NY Post:

Embattled Brooklyn Democratic boss Vito Lopez and 10 other state pols will give new meaning to the words "retired in office" on Jan. 1 -- when they start new terms hours after cashing in fat pensions, The Post has learned.

The 11 double-dipping state lawmakers -- including former state Democratic Chairman Herman Farrell and former Bronx Democratic Chairman José Rivera -- are the latest to take advantage of a mind-boggling loophole that allows some elected officials to collect pension checks while still in office.

The list of lawmakers who filed their "retirement" papers with the state Comptroller's Office by the Dec. 1 deadline includes seven Republicans and four Democrats.

Lopez, 69, can expect to receive an estimated $88,000 pension annually on top of the $92,000 salary he draws as the Assembly's Housing Committee chairman.

The 12-term assemblyman, who is reportedly battling a cancer relapse, has also been dogged by criminal probes into the Brooklyn charity empire he founded.

Meanwhile, Farrell, 78, is eligible for a pension worth a projected $108,000 over his $113,500 salary as Assembly Ways & Means chairman -- by far the largest haul of the 11 who took advantage of the loophole.

To claim the plush benefit an official need only "retire" Dec. 31 and show up after the confetti falls New Year's Day to get sworn-in anew. The Legislature closed the loophole in 1995, but politicians elected to office before that date can still collect.

Lotsa double-dipping going on

From the NY Post:

State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli has numerous employees working under him who are pocketing both a state pension and a paycheck -- a dubious practice known as double dipping that pension-reform advocates fear is bankrupting the system, the Post has learned.

DiNapoli -- who has railed against the soaring costs of the pension system -- has more than a dozen double dippers, but could possibly have far more, according to a Post analysis of comptroller employees listed on SeeThroughNY.net, a database of public employees.

The Post initially discovered a whopping 50 possible double dippers, and asked the office to confirm whether or not they were in its employ.

After two weeks of repeated calls and e-mails from The Post, DiNapoli spokesman Dennis Tompkins said that the list wasn't accurate, and promised to provide an accurate accounting of the agency's double dippers. He never did.

In an e-mail, he defended the practice -- which is legal in special cases -- by saying that using retirees saves money, because the state doesn't have to pay health insurance and retirement contributions.

Critics charge that double dipping is bad for the $120 billion pension because those limited funds were intended for use only for retirees unable to work.

Albany's double-dippers

From the NY Times:

When Assemblyman Harvey Weisenberg retired last year, there were no sendoffs, no cakes and no serenades.

In fact, no one even knew he had left the Capitol, because he never did. Mr. Weisenberg, 75, a Long Island Democrat, “retired” last year but continued to work as a lawmaker and remained on the payroll. As a result, he earns $101,500 in salary and collects a pension of about $72,000, according to the comptroller’s office.

Similarly, Assemblywoman Rhoda Jacobs, a 72-year-old Brooklyn Democrat, retired last year after 31 years, but continued to serve her district. She earns $104,500 and draws an annual pension of more than $71,000. And Assemblyman John J. McEneny, a 65-year-old Albany-area Democrat who retired last year but kept his seat in the Assembly chamber, now earns $94,500 and a pension of about $73,000.

All of them are beneficiaries of “double dipping,” a practice in which public servants simultaneously collect government salaries and pensions, sometimes for the same job.

Most people who have a traditional pension put in years or decades of work at a job, then retire, leave the job and begin collecting monthly pension payments. Some companies do allow double dipping, though the practice has most likely declined during the recession and federal rules impose more restrictions on corporate pension funds.

In Albany, veteran lawmakers can “retire” at 65 from their jobs and start collecting pensions, but without actually leaving their jobs, giving up their salaries or even telling their constituents. Four legislators took advantage of the rule last year.