MORE THAN 1,200 NJ STATE RETIREES GET $100K PENSIONS Investigative Report by Mark Lagerkvist

Posted on April 2, 2012

Call it the $100K Club — an elite corps of retired public employees that’s growing bigger, younger and richer at the expense of the New Jersey retirement system.

The number of retirees collecting more than $100,000 a year from state pensions jumped to 1,244 last year, up 28 percent from 2010, according to New Jersey Watchdog’s analysis of state data.

“Special retirements” by police and fire employees — some as young as age 43 — account for half of the increase. It is really special for those who game the system.

New Brunswick Police Director Anthony Caputo, for example, retired at age 47 to draw a $115,019 annual pension. On his way out, he collected $376,234 from the city for unused vacation, sick and personal time.

One year later, New Brunswick rehired Caputo as police director — the same position — at a $120,000 salary. For one job, he receives two checks, totaling $235,019 a year. Caputo did not respond to a request for comment.

For a privileged minority of public employees, benefits are so generous that many become pension millionaires without double-dipping. Meanwhile, state retirement funds face a deficit estimated from $36 billion to $144 billion.

Joseph Blaettler will rake in more than $4.5 million from the Police and Firemen’s Retirement Fund, if he reaches age 80, his statistical life expectancy.

At age 46, Blaettler began pocketing nearly $135,000 a year in retirement checks when he stepped down as Union City deputy police chief in 2009. Blaettler — now a private investigator — gets the biggest pension New Jersey pays to any retiree under 50.

“Politicians created this system, and I simply accepted what they gave me along the way,” wrote Blaettler in an email to New Jersey Watchdog. ”If taxpayers want to get angry with someone, they need to ask their local and state politicians how they allowed the system to get to the point it is at.”

New Jersey Watchdog found 56 other $100K Club members who retired in their 40s. (See list below.) All are PFRS pensioners who worked for local or county governments and took advantage of the special retirement rule, available only to eligible police, prosecutors and fire officials.

The rule allows them to retire at any age after 25 years of employment. Their pension pay ranges from 60 percent to 70 percent of their highest salary under the state’s formula.

Of the $100K Club’s 1,244 pensioners, 552 — or 45 percent — belong to PFRS. Special retirements account for 479 — or 87 percent — of those six-figure pensions.

The club also includes 383 retirees from the Teachers’ Pension and Annuity Fund, 253 from the Judicial Retirement System and 99 from the Public Employee Retirement System.

No one from the State Police Retirement System made the $100K Club. SPRS’s top retiree, William Malast, fell short with $97,897 a year in pension pay.

Not surprisingly, the biggest pensions often go to public officials who received the largest salaries.

Robert Mulcahy hit the jackpot, when he was fired as Rutgers University’s $341,250-a-year athletic director in 2008. He was forced out after a university audit found secret deals and off-the-books spending by his regime.

Mulcahy received a severance package that cost Rutgers more than $600,000. Under the agreement, the state university paid:

$511,875, equaling 18 months of Mulcahy’s salary,
$60,000 in bonus money,
$18,000 in automobile allowance,
$13,950 for country club membership dues, and
$15,000 to pay Mulcahy’s lawyer for negotiating the agreement.

Because Mulcahy was paid in one lump sum, he was free to start collecting a $162,399 annual pension from PERS the following month. It is the second-largest retirement benefit paid by New Jersey.

Thanks to Gov. Chris Christie, Mulcahy is back in state government.

Last year, Christie appointed Mulcahy to the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority, which manages and invests hundreds of millions of dollars in state gaming taxes.

Mulcahy is vice chairman of CRDA. Authority officials say he chose not to receive a salary, set by statute at $18,000 a year.

Mulcahy could not be reached for comment.

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$100K CLUB MEMBERS WHO RETIRED UNDER AGE 50

Name	Retire Age	Pension/YR	Employer at Retirement

BLAETTLER, JOSEPH J	46	$134,773	UNION CITY
NOVICK, CRAIG R	47	$126,210	FRANKLIN TOWNSHIP (SOMERSET)
MURRAY, JOSEPH A	46	$121,937	PATERSON CITY
OREILLY, MICHAEL J	49	$120,134	JERSEY CITY FIRE DEPT.
PECKERMAN, MICHAEL A	48	$120,015	PARSIPPANY TROY HILLS TOWNSHIP
MANGARELLA, PETER J	48	$116,407	NEW BRUNSWICK CITY
CAPUTO, ANTHONY A	47	$115,019	NEW BRUNSWICK CITY
MORAN, ROBERT	49	$114,990	ENGLEWOOD CITY
CUNNING, EDWARD T	49	$113,913	HOBOKEN CITY
ZISA, FRANK C	48	$113,355	HACKENSACK CITY
DUNTON, CHRISTOPHER L	49	$110,800	JACKSON TOWNSHIP
REGINO, DANIEL	48	$109,245	TENAFLY BOROUGH
MAYER, ANTHONY G	45	$108,579	HILLSIDE TOWNSHIP
WRIGHT, ROBERT	47	$108,513	PARAMUS BOROUGH
NEWMAN, DAVID	48	$108,228	JACKSON TOWNSHIP
SMITH, BRIAN P	49	$107,685	PARAMUS BOROUGH
SMITH, MARK A	48	$107,683	BAYONNE CITY
ROMAN, RICHARD	47	$107,485	HACKENSACK CITY
CRAMPTON, PETER J	45	$106,925	PATERSON CITY
TIERNAN, PAUL M	49	$106,701	TEANECK TOWNSHIP
SCHWARTZ, ROBERT A	49	$106,701	ATLANTIC CITY
DAUBER, JOHN L	48	$106,128	EDISON TOWNSHIP
MCDONALD, EDWIN J	44	$106,075	PERTH AMBOY CITY
CROTHERS, THOMAS R	48	$105,980	EAST BRUNSWICK TOWNSHIP
BRINGA, ALBERTO L	47	$105,333	WEST NEW YORK TOWN
LOMIA, FRANK	48	$105,061	HACKENSACK CITY
SALIM, JOHN R	48	$104,951	HACKENSACK CITY
CATANESE, JOSEPH J	48	$104,668	NEW BRUNSWICK CITY
DEPOLO, DANIEL J	48	$104,570	POINT PLEASANT BEACH BOROUGH
RICHMOND, GARY	47	$104,460	NORTH BERGEN TOWNSHIP
STOLTENBORG, RICHARD J	49	$103,908	RIDGEFIELD BOROUGH
CLAYTON, TIMOTHY J	46	$103,815	WALL TOWNSHIP
MARKULIC, DONNA L	46	$103,540	HOWELL TOWNSHIP
HAILEY, KEVIN C	49	$102,988	CAMDEN CITY
PARKER, LARRY D	44	$102,861	STAFFORD TOWNSHIP
GUTCH, JAMES F	49	$102,644	JERSEY CITY
HARGIS, EDWARD G	45	$102,561	CAMDEN CITY
KLOOS, WILLIAM D	49	$102,521	NORTH BRUNSWICK TOWNSHIP
ORIENTE, MICHAEL	47	$102,432	NORTH HUDSON REG FIRE & RESCUE
PARREY, ERNEST T	47	$102,428	TRENTON CITY
TURNER, MICHAEL	47	$102,303	HOBOKEN CITY
PALOTTA, JOHN	47	$102,276	BERGEN COUNTY
GOLDBERG, BRUCE R	49	$102,234	HACKENSACK CITY
THOMPSON, JOHN P	49	$102,100	RUTHERFORD BOROUGH
SABO, STEVEN M	49	$101,954	ENGLEWOOD CITY
OSINSKI, WILLIAM D	46	$101,868	HACKENSACK CITY
CZULADA, THOMAS J	47	$101,543	BERGEN COUNTY
MCGORTY, THOMAS	48	$101,405	WEEHAWKEN TOWNSHIP
TREANOR, JOSEPH M	43	$101,356	UNION CITY
QUIDOR, STEVEN	46	$101,211	NORTH HUDSON REG FIRE & RESCUE
CUNNING, DANIEL A	48	$100,958	HOBOKEN CITY
JANZEKOVICH, ROBERT J	46	$100,782	EAST BRUNSWICK TOWNSHIP
DAINO, DANIEL	48	$100,751	NORTH BRUNSWICK TOWNSHIP
OWENS, PATRICK J	48	$100,453	SOUTH BRUNSWICK TOWNSHIP
LEE, DONALD J	49	$100,353	HACKENSACK CITY
PADO, KENNETH L	46	$100,336	NORTH BRUNSWICK TOWNSHIP
LANDAU, ERIC	48	$100,328	MARLBORO TOWNSHIP
HERVEY, STEVEN J	48	$100,104	FORT LEE BOROUGH

New Jersey Watchdog’s research focused on retirees from public employment who receive more than $100,000 a year in retirement pay from the state pension system. Disability pensions and benefits for survivors were not included the study.

Data are from state pension records provided by the New Jersey State Treasury. Pension amounts are current as of December 31, 2011.

The above table lists employees who took “special retirements” before age 50. The retirement ages are accurate within a six-month margin of error. State and local government agencies consider release of exact birth dates as an unwarranted invasion of the personal privacy of public employees.

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Links to New Jersey Watchdog’s previous investigative stories on New Jersey public pensions:

‘RETIRED’ ATLANTIC CITY TOURISM COP HITS NJ PENSION JACKPOT WITH A LITTLE HELP FROM HIS ATTORNEY GENERAL FRIENDS

MEET THE BIGGEST ‘TRIPLE-DIPPER’ IN THE NEW JERSEY STATEHOUSE: SEN. FRED MADDEN POCKETS $241,000 A YEAR IN PAY & PENSION

NJ HOMELAND SECURITY’S 18 DOUBLE-DIPPERS NAB $9M IN PENSIONS

NEW JERSEY PROSECUTORS EMPLOY 125 DOUBLE-DIPPING ‘RETIREES’; THEY TAKE $8.6 MILLION A YEAR IN STATE PENSIONS PLUS SALARIES

NJ ATTORNEY GENERAL DOW’S 23 DOUBLE-DIPPING AGENTS ‘ARREST’ $14 MILLION FROM STATE PENSION FUNDS AND KEEP THE CASH

NJ ATTORNEY GENERAL’S 23 DOUBLE-DIPPERS POCKET MILLIONS; MOST ‘RETIRE’ FOR ONE DAY, THEN COLLECT PENSIONS FOR LIFE

CHRISTIE’S ‘RETIRED’ BUDGET GURU POCKETS $1M IN PUBLIC PAYOUTS

44 TOP COUNTY COPS DO THE BIG DOUBLE-DIP: HOW 16 SHERIFFS & 28 UNDERSHERIFFS POCKET MILLIONS IN PENSIONS PLUS SALARIES

LT. GOV. GUADAGNO ON HOT SEAT AS STATE INVESTIGATES SHERIFFS’ MILLION-DOLLAR DOUBLE-DIPPING SCAMS

GUADAGNO-GATE: HOW NJ’S LT. GOVERNOR IS GETTING AWAY WITH $245,000 STATE PENSION SCAM