Audit Report on New York City Pensioners Working as Consultants for the City after Retirement

Audit Report In Brief

The objective of this audit was to identify New York City pensioners who may be reemployed as a consultant and illegally collecting a pension from a New York City retirement system—known as “double-dippers” or “disability violators”—and to quantify the amounts of any improper payments to individuals who appear to be violators of New York State Retirement and Social Security Law (RSSL) §211 and §212 or New York City Charter §1117 during calendar year 2005.

Audit Findings and Conclusions

The audit found four individuals who received $99,372 in pension payments during 2005 that appear to violate applicable sections of State and City laws.  These individuals were in apparent violation of RSSL §211 or §212 because they were under age 65 and received payments from the City for professional services that exceeded the limitations without having a waiver on file at their retirement system, or were in violation of §1117 of the New York City Charter because they were collecting disability pensions while receiving more than $1,800 (including pension payments) a year from a New York City agency.

Audit Recommendations

The audit made four recommendations, that New York City retirement systems should:

• Investigate those individuals identified as receiving pensions while receiving payments from the City for providing professional services as consultants.  City retirement systems officials should also commence prompt recoupment action against those individuals found to be illegally collecting pensions.
• Forward to the Department of Investigation, if the circumstances warrant such action, the names of individuals found to be illegally collecting pensions.
• Ascertain whether previous pension overpayments have been recouped and whether current pensions have been suspended for those individuals who have been cited in previous audits as “double-dippers” or “disability violators.”
• Send special reminders to all retirees that clearly state their responsibilities when returning to public service after retirement.