The number of Georgia retired university employees, teachers and state employees receiving pensions of more than $100,000 a year has more than doubled in the past six years. But state law prevents the public from going online and looking up who any of those retirees are, despite massive taxpayer investment in the fund.
An Atlanta Journal-Constitution analysis showed that:
Read Full Article »The number of former employees receiving pensions of more than $100,000 a year from the Teacher Retirement System and Employees Retirees System went from about 1,100 in early 2011 to almost 2,400 as of June. Most of the tens of thousands of former teachers, university professors and staffers, and state employees don't receive anywhere near that kind of pension. The average TRS pension, for instance, is less than $40,000 a year. …
Because of mediocre returns some recent years and a shrunken employee base paying into the system, the state had to pump an extra $223 million into the TRS this year to improve its financial security. The AJC reported in June that the system could need an extra $400 million next year, eating up 40 percent to 45 percent of all new tax revenue.
