"From each according to his ability, to each according to his need"

You didn't note this from the article: the "mean monthly allowance: $2,363.25" Most of the state employees worked 30 years or more to receive this. From what I've seen, that's not easy to live on.

Don't they also get Social Security? (Once they're actually old enough for retirement, that is.)

Maybe they should ask Mike Bellotti for a monthly allowance.

Isak,

Does that mean $2363.25 make the high end pensions any less repugnant?

Yes, they get Social Security in addition to PERS benefits, just like anyone else with a separate pension. While outrage at the high amounts paid to coaches/athletic directors is understandable, it is directly related to the salaries those folks are paid. And it is important to look at what the average pension is--$2363 a month is hardly excessive given the length of employment of many PERS retirees.

This is an excellent reason not to pay these people so much to begin with. Millions of dollars a year paid to a athletic director from taxpayer money is outrageous!

Neil's brother -- classic.

Bill Korach, past and present superintendent of LO Schools is #8 on the list. You might wonder how a small town shook district employee made the top ten, but before any cracks are made about LO, you shoud look into his (and the others') total compensation package and congratulate them on finding good lawyers to negotiate their employment contracts.

Every year when the school board voted on extending his contract, the local paper would publish Korach's new salary as if that plus the standard benefits were all he was getting. A peek into his contract revealed, the good stuff - that there were large annuities, parting gifts and other ways to enhance his retirement income.

Since Korach is still working at the same job while collecting PERS income, I suggest there is room for improvement in the system right there. Making all employment contracts for public employees public should be automatic. And for many public union workers and executives their contract might give them full health care benefits until age 65. since it's OPM, I don't .think there is anyone who has direct responsibility for stupid, wasteful, and overly generous decisions on public employee contracts. Keep local governing boards and councils accountible for what goes on under their watch.

Lets not forget about the Hush Money consultancy (double dip) positions that many PERS people continue to enjoy.

I learned a long time ago that the easiest way to get people to pay attention, pretend to like you, and do what you ask, is to give them money. When it is other people's money that you are giving away, it is magical indeed. Everyone loves you and someone else pays.

That is exactly why we have messes like this. Politicians love to be loved and they can buy it all with our money. PERS has become a payoff system. There really isn't any reason for the state to run its own retirement plan anymore. The only reason that it still exists is because it lets the politicians hand out money and get favors in return.

Bellotti sounds defensive. He must feel at least a little twinge of awkwardness about being #1 at the trough.

A cousin who worked for the state for
23-plus years gets just under $1200 a month.

$2363.25 per month ain't chump change. The average monthly payment under private sector defined benefit plans is nowhere near that high.

boycat, you have a point that $2363.25 is a significant amount when multiplied by the number of individuals receiving that average amount. However, the individuals in that category are most likely not in the income brackets of those in the top 10.
I would respectfully ask, could you live comfortably in the metro area on less than $30,000 a year? I would be hard pressed to do so.

Portland Native, as pointed out above the $2363.25 PERS pension also has social security added to that. The average ss is $1200 per month making $3500 per month.

Depending on what "comfortably" means for each of us, yes I could. If you have your home, car, medicare, use your polite 10% senior discounts, and many other things paid for, then it is doable and pleasant

Is there a reason salaries of all public employees aren't disclosed like this?

What about recipients of state welfare?

"Mean monthly allowance" factoring the 837 top, means there is little left divided among the remaining State Employees.
Few see anywhere near the $2365 "mean monthly allowance"
kicked around here. Nor with 30 plus years.
It demonstrates the huge upward sucking sound being experienced everywhere.
It is sucking the vitality out of our great country and we are allowing them to get away with it as they deftly shift the blame to the middle class now underdog.
"Silence is consensus"