State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo began subpoenaing the records of all 124 school districts on Long Island late Tuesday, seeking information on the practice of "double-dipping" by administrators who received state pensions and were then hired for lucrative interim positions.
The new round of subpoenas to the districts is an expansion of Cuomo's already wide-ranging probe of districts that have listed attorneys as district employees who were also paid lucrative retainers. By being listed as employees, the attorneys were able to receive state pension credits and health benefits.
The new round of subpoenas follows a Newsday story Sunday that reported that at least 40 school administrators receive state pensions and salaries as interim school district employees. Some of the administrators were hired only days after retiring, Newsday reported. Officials credited the Newsday story with initiating the new investigation.
"The amount of fraud and abuse is surprising to me and it's inexcusable and has gone for too long a time," Cuomo said in an interview late yesterday, referring to both his investigation into attorneys receiving pension credits and his reasons for the new round of subpoenas. "It's going to end and end now. We will no longer tolerate this kind of abuse."
In a letter attached to the subpoenas obtained by Newsday, Cuomo said he "is today launching a separate but related investigation into school district hiring of retired individuals who are receiving public pensions. It appears from recent reports that there is a widespread practice on Long Island of school districts permitting employees to 'double dip,' earning salaries and pensions at the same time. The attorney general's office will now be examining whether this is a proper use of public funds."
The subpoena asks for a comprehensive amount of material, including: the names of all school district employees who are both salaried and receive state pensions; how the district documented the need to rehire retirees as opposed to nonretirees; how the district classified the retirees so as to permit them to receive both salaries and pensions at the same time; and the cost over the last six years of the salaries of the employees already receiving pensions.
None of the school districts that sources said were subpoenaed late Tuesday could be reached for comment. Superintendents at two districts called by Newsday, Baldwin and Jericho, said they were not aware of any subpoenas.
The Newsday article on Sunday focused on the practice of hiring retired school administrators on an interim basis instead of seeking job candidates who had not retired. A change in New York State law in 2002 lowered the age from 70 to 65 at which retired administrators could resume working without limits to their salaries.
A bill pending in the state Legislature would raise the age limit back to 70.
In recent weeks, Cuomo has reached settlements with attorneys who have improperly received pension credits as employees of school districts. Among the settlements that were reached was one with Maureen Harris, a member of the State Public Service Commission, who received pension credits while working as an attorney for an Albany law firm.
