Letters: Most public pensions are modest

This article really tells only half the story regarding municipal pensions here on Long Island ["Newsday exclusive: 6-figure public pensions," News, Oct. 24]. Here are a few facts that would help your readers better understand the full picture: The average pension for a Civil Service Employees Association retiree is about $16,000 to $18,000 a year. Two-thirds of CSEA retirees are living on pensions of less than $20,000 a year. Only about 1 percent of state retirees earn pensions over $75,000.

While it may be true that some top wage-earners receive six-figure pensions, they are few.

It is interesting that Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo is quoted as saying, "the pension system as we know it is unsustainable."

In 1990, wasn't it then-Gov. Mario Cuomo who tried to withhold the state's contribution to the retirement fund under the guise that the fund was overfunded? That would have allowed him to balance his budget and reduce the deficit by raiding a pension system that has always been properly funded and well-maintained. His actions were ultimately reversed in the courts when Comptroller Carl McCall challenged the diversion of funds. It sounds as though the current governor would like to follow in his father's footsteps by using the state pension system as a private piggy bank.

It is also important for readers to realize that 83 percent of pension benefits are paid for by investment returns, with the remaining money coming from employee and employer contributions to the system. To suggest that the cost of public pensions is being borne by the taxpayer alone would be patently false.

Charles Sellitto, Merrick

Editor's note: The writer is the president of CSEA Local 880.
 

Your story on how many of the state's retirees earn pensions of six figures was very informative, but not entirely the reason the state is in the mess it's in. Pointing out a few anomalies within a system is all fine and good, but while you are on your crusade to lay blame on the doorsteps of retirees who simply took what was offered them, allow me to point out few other issues.

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority's payroll tax was established to bail out an agency that has run its budgets out of control over the year; it runs bad budgets better than it runs its trains and buses. The MTA tax was essentially an anchor thrown at small-business owners at a time when they were trying to stay afloat in this depression; and yes, it is a depression.

There are many other taxes and fees that hamper effective business growth. And let us not forget the money that was spent to rename the Triborough Bridge, even at a time when the wheels were coming off the world economy.

There are many more things I can point out that would establish that we cannot trust these elected officials to make sound choices when it comes to spending our money.

Stephen Vella, Ronkonkoma