Audit Report on Pensioners of the New York City Employees’ Retirement System Working for the City after Retirement

Audit Report In Brief

The Comptroller’s Office performed an audit to identify New York City Employees’ Retirement System (NYCERS) pensioners who may be illegally re-employed (“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 years 2001 and 2002.

The audit found three individuals who received $35,643 in pension payments during 2001 and 2002 that appear to violate applicable sections of State and City laws. One of the three individuals received improper pension payments in both 2001 and 2002. These individualswere in apparent violation of RSSL § 211 or § 212 because they were under age 70 in 2001 or under age 65 in 2002 and received City wages exceeding the limitations without having a waiver on file at NYCERS, or were in violation of § 1117 of the New York City Charter because they were collecting disability pensions while earning more than $1,800 (including pension payments) a year at a New York City agency and had surpassed their applicable employment anniversary dates.

To address these issues the report recommended that NYCERS officials:

• Investigate those individuals identified as concurrently receiving pensions while being re-employed in public service. NYCERS 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 service retirees under the age of 65, and to all disability retirees, that clearly state their responsibilities regarding public service re-employment.