Average New FDNY Pension Approaches $120,000

Empire Center reports:

New York City firefighters and fire officers who retired during the 2016 fiscal year were eligible for average pensions of $119,863, a 6 percent increase over the previous year, according to data gleaned from 15,557 Fire Department pension records updated today on SeeThroughNY, the Empire Center’s transparency website.

Among the 407 city fire officers and firefighters who retired between July 1, 2015 and June 30, 2016, a dozen are eligible for pensions over $200,000, the data show, bringing to 78 the total number of retirees with pensions above that amount. Seventeen percent of all uniformed Fire Department retirees (2,659) were eligible for pensions of more than $100,000, up from 8 percent (1,267) in 2011.

The high average levels of firefighter and fire officer pensions largely reflect a high percentage of retirees receiving line-of-duty disability pensions, which are 75 percent of salary as opposed to the 50 percent available to normal service retirements. Higher benefits also include payments from an optional, guaranteed-return supplemental account supported in part by additional savings contributions by firefighters who choose to participate in that plan.

“New York City’s pension costs are on track to consume 17 percent of the city’s tax receipts,” said Tim Hoefer, executive director of the Empire Center.

Big numbers in the news.