‘Retiring’ judges’ 2 $coops
Salary and pension
Judge Betty Williams won re-election to her state Supreme Court post in Brooklyn in November 2013, and eight weeks later put in for retirement.
But Williams continues to sit on the bench, collecting both her salary of $193,000 and a hefty state pension of $135,902 a year.
Williams, 72, is one of 29 state Supreme Court and Appellate Division judges in New York who double dip — raking in salaries along with retirement cash, according to data provided to The Post by the state Comptroller’s Office.
Like many other double dippers, Williams filed for retirement at the end of the calendar year, allowing her to collect her full salary through Dec. 31. Since she had won re-election, and wasn’t actually retired, she could start her new term on Jan. 1 with both her paycheck and pension.
Although double dipping is legal, it creates a “problem with the public,” the court system itself argued in an effort to curb the practice. Watchdog groups are also critical. “Instances like this are a reminder that pensions are an outdated, unsustainable and costly way to finance re- tirements,” said Ken Girardin, a policy analyst at the Albany-based Empire Center.
He said taxpayers were on the hook to guarantee payments if pension-fund investments underperformed and that in order to prevent future double dipping, new workers should be placed in 401(k)-style plans “the way people in the private sector are.”
In 2013, the state court system attempted to stop double dipping for judges such as Williams who have reached the mandatory retirement age of 70.
But a group of judges, led by Rockland County Supreme Court Judge Gerald Loehr, sued, calling the policy change illegal.
Loehr, 73, who served briefly as mayor of Yonkers and was elected as a judge in 2004, is currently collecting a pension of $66,564 a year on top of his $193,000 salary.
“The law allows you to take an earned pension and the law allows you to continue working thereafter,” said Loehr, adding that he earned most of his pension during his work as an assistant district attorney and for the city of Yonkers.
The judges lost their suit, but won on appeal in November 2015 when an appellate-court ruling found the courtsystem policy to be “illegal and contrary to law.”
The case is now awaiting scheduling before the Court of Appeals, the state’s highest court.
Another one of the plaintiffs, Westchester County Supreme Court Judge J. Emmett Murphy, said he started his government service in 1969 and had prepaid into the pension system. He started collecting his pension of $91,488 in 2010.
“The phrase ‘double dipping’ makes it sound like you’re doing two wrong things and you’re not doing anything wrong,” he said. “You’re just working after retirement.”
Williams’ office referred a request for comment to the Office of Court Administration. A spokesman noted that the policy prohibiting double dipping for older judges “has been challenged and is currently in litigation.”