Over 300,000 people are collecting a New York state pension of at least $20,000 a year, according to state records.
Of those, more than 12,000, about 3.97%, are getting a pension worth more than $100,000. A total of 110 people statewide get a pension of $200,000 or more a year.
The person with the highest pension amount in the state is Kara Bennorth Hubertus of Westchester Medical Center. She receives a pension benefit of over $503,000 a year, according to records from the state Comptroller’s Office.
The Comptroller’s Office released the pension data in response to a Freedom of Information Law request from syracuse.com | The Post-Standard. The records reflect a snapshot of the New York state pension system as of Sept. 30.
The numbers come from the state Employees Retirement System and the New York State Police and Fire Retirement System.
You can see the top 25 pension recipients in Onondaga County in the table below. If you can’t see the table, click here to open it in a new window.
Three of the top five pension recipients in Onondaga County — Sharon Klaiber, Katharine Mooney and Richard O’Shea — worked as administrators at Upstate Medical University or its associated hospital in Syracuse. No. 5, Stephen Cavuto, is a former Syracuse deputy fire chief.
Cavuto benefits from a deal the city struck with the firefighters union years ago that allows members to boost their pension by working lots of overtime in their final year on the job.
No. 3 is Onondaga County District Attorney William Fitzpatrick. Since 2020, Fitzpatrick has been collecting both a pension, worth more than $133,000 a year, and a regular annual salary for his work as district attorney.
The practice is allowed under state law.
You can search pension records statewide using the search tool below. The database includes anyone collecting a pension of at least $20,000 a year from the state Employees Retirement System or the New York State Police and Fire Retirement System.
You can search by entering a complete or partial worker name or employer name. You can also search by individual county using the list box.
If you can’t see the search tool, click here to open it in a new window.
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