At a
time when Gov. M. Jodi Rell is complaining that some officials earn more than
her commissioners, a recent report shows that nine retired state employees earn
annual pensions that are higher than the governor's salary of
$150,000.
The highest state-employee pension is $216,478 annually for Dr.
Jack N. Blechner, a retired professor and department chairman at the University
of Connecticut Health Center in Farmington.
The pension payouts have
exploded following an early retirement plan enacted by the legislature and
then-Gov. John G. Rowland in 2003. That incentive plan opened the floodgates for
more than 4,500 new retirees, and now eight of the top 20 pensions are being
paid to employees who retired in June 2003.
The highest pension among the
most recent retirees is paid to former UConn President Harry Hartley, who
receives $169,125 annually, according to the nonpartisan Office of Legislative
Research. Hartley stepped down as president in 1996 and then continued on the
staff for nearly seven years.
"I'm not even a coach!" Hartley responded
when told that he was third on the overall list. "That includes the medical
school? I'm surprised, frankly."
Speaking from his new home in Florida,
Hartley said the state retirement system does not include many of the highest
paid employees in higher education because they are often in a separate pension
system operated by the Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association College
Retirement Equities Fund, known as TIAA-CREF.
"Those would be your
high-salaried people, including Calhoun and Geno," Hartley said, referring to
men's basketball coach Jim Calhoun and women's basketball coach Geno Auriemma.
"They belong to TIAA-CREF."
After 36 years at UConn, Hartley said his
pension is "well deserved."
Among the highest seven pensions, five are
for retired employees at the UConn Health Center. Among the top 20, 15 are for
people who were employed either in higher education or at the Health
Center.
The report by the research office, citing statistics from the
state comptroller's office, covers the current annual pension payments,
including the cost-of-living adjustments since each person retired.
The
net distributions - or payouts - from the state's $20.9 billion pension fund
have increased sharply in recent years, according to the state treasurer's
office. The payouts jumped to $826.9 million in the 2004 budget year, up sharply
from $471 million in 2000 and $555.7 million in 2002. Despite the increased
payouts, the overall fund has increased in value, partly due to the increase in
the stock market.
State Rep. Robert Farr, a West Hartford Republican with
more than 20 years at the Capitol, said that some of the numbers are "amazing"
for an annual pension.
"How do I get one of these jobs?" Farr asked.
"It's a perception of everybody getting as much as they can get. We ought to
review salaries for all state employees. It's not just the very top. Everybody
has good pensions and great health care. The whole system needs a review in
terms of wages."
"Pension payouts are by and large guided by collectively
bargained agreements - not legislative fiat," said Dennis Schain, Rell's
spokesman. "But if the legislature wishes to visit the issue of pension rights,
it should do so during the course of the session."
Rell released a report
last week by her budget office, showing that four chief executives at the
state's quasi-public agencies earn more than any of her commissioners. The
highest-paid person in the report - Thomas Kirk of the Connecticut Resources
Recovery Authority - is paid $229,500 annually.
Rell said she was
"aghast" at the "shocking" details in the budget office report, saying there
were wide inconsistencies in salaries, bonuses and perks across the eight
agencies.
She has since formed a special working group to establish
uniform standards for benefits, and she expects to receive a report within 60 to
90 days.
The two highest-paid retirees - Blechner and Dr. E. Marvin
Henken - could not be reached for comment Thursday. Henken retired in 1994, and
he drew attention in 2001 when he returned to work at the Health Center. Henken
was paid more than $250,000 in 2000, which included both his pension and
payments at the Health Center as a radiologist and teaching professor. Blechner
retired in 1997 after serving as chairman of the department of obstetrics and
gynecology.
The top state-employee pensions are far higher than any
pensions being paid for municipal employees in Hartford, New Haven and
Bridgeport, according to a separate report by the legislature's research
office.
One state employee said that many employees will be receiving far
lower pensions than those mentioned in the report.
"How did we get left
behind on this gravy boat?" the employee asked.
The highest pension being
paid in Hartford is $108,287 for an employee who worked 34 years in the
corporation counsel's office, the report said. Six retired firefighters in
Hartford are receiving pensions of more than $88,000 annually, and at least 10
employees citywide are receiving more than $85,000.
Those pensions in
Hartford are all higher than one of the most controversial pensions in recent
years, which went to former City Manager Saundra Kee Borges. After a deal for an
even higher pension fell apart, Borges accepted a severance deal in 2002 that
allowed her to receive an estimated annual pension of $72,000, starting at the
age of 44.
In New Haven, the highest pension is $82,763 for a retired
firefighter, and nine retired police officers and firefighters are receiving
more than $68,000 annually.
In Bridgeport, the highest pension of $79,415
is being paid to the widow of a retired police chief who had 47 years of service
in the city, the report said. The statistics were provided by each city to the
legislature's research office, and the report did not include the names of any
of the municipal workers.
