STRAIN ON STATE BUDGET

Bill topping $5.21 billion trending into danger zone

Tens of thousands of state pensions of up to $350,000 a year are straining the retirement system, forcing the Legislature to ask taxpayers for more cash to keep the system afloat.

A staggering 1,000-plus retirees earned $100,000 or more in pension pay last year — with former troopers, judges, provosts and school superintendents leading the way — with the total pension-fund liability coming in at a budget-busting $5.21 billion.

It’s a trend one watchdog said is heading into the danger zone.

“These pensions are putting an enormous burden on the state budget,” said Greg Sullivan, a former state inspector general now with the Pioneer Institute. “It’s taking away money we need for roads, bridges and to fix the MBTA.”

Sullivan said the cost of footing the bill for these golden years has “skyrocketed” — forcing the state Legislature to pump $2.4 billion into that budget in 2018. He warned that the tab for this liability will climb to $11 billion by 2033.

“This is such a serious problem,” Sullivan added, “it’s become almost unrealistic.” The 124,000-plus pension payouts studied by the Herald show former provosts, professors, prosecutors, teachers, social workers, toll collectors and prison guards collecting hefty checks:

Two former UMass Medical junior chancellors pulled down $347,000 and $338,000, respectively, last year. Both retired recently.

Ten retirees were close behind at more than $200,000 each last year, including William “Billy” Bulger, the brother of slain Southie mobster James “Whitey” Bulger. The former UMass president and onetime state Senate president took home $201,656 last year.

One man who retired in 1953 from “state service” was listed as collecting $12,200 last year. Others left state work in the 1960s, ’70s and ’80s and are still collecting checks.

Most retired public school teachers were paid about $50,000 last year, but the top earner in this category chalked up $149,000.

School superintendents and teachers from Athol to Wrentham had annual pensions of $209,000 to $400. (That was a teacher on Nantucket.)

Retired toll collectors, who had their jobs eliminated due to electronic tolling, clocked in at $61,000 and $56,000 a year, on the high side, to $9,959 in the slow lane.

Sullivan, who collects a $91,000 annual pension for his stint as an inspector general, said the culprit is the state’s growing payroll.

As the Herald reported this week, the state payroll for 2018 was $7.74 billion. That figure has climbed 23 percent over the past five years. Yet the median household income for Massachusetts residents has gone up only 15 percent to $73,227 over the same period. Gov. Charlie Baker’s administration said a timeline has been set to get the pension system under control, but it will take years.

“The Baker-Polito Administration has made progress to pay down the commonwealth’s long-term obligations like the unfunded pension liability. Under the current statutory funding schedule the final amortization payment will be made in fiscal 2036, four years before the statutory requirement,” said Julie Mehegan, spokeswoman for the Executive Office for Administration and Finance.

Until then, retired parole officers, jail guards, librarians, chauffeurs and janitors will need the Legislature to keep the payments coming.