Audit Report on Non-Pedagogical Pensioners of the New York City Department of Education Working 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 by a City agency and illegally collecting a pension from the New York City Board of Education Retirement System (BERS)—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 one individual who received $28,723 in pension payments during 2005 that appear to violate RSSL §211 or §212 because he was under age 65 and received City wages exceeding the limitations without having a waiver on file at BERS.

Audit Recommendations

The audit made four recommendations, that BERS officials should:

• Investigate the individual identified as receiving a pension while being reemployed in public service.  BERS officials should also commence prompt recoupment action against this individual if he is found to be illegally collecting a pension.
• Forward to the Department of Investigation, if the circumstances warrant such action, the name of this individual if he is found to be illegally collecting a pension.
• 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 service retirees under the age of 65 and to all disability retirees that clearly state their responsibilities regarding public service reemployment.