new york comptroller

New York Pension Declines After Quarter of Weak Investment Returns

The value of New York’s Common Retirement Fund dipped in the third quarter, from a record-high $180 billion to $178 billion.

The decline comes from weak investment returns over the last three months; in the case of the pension fund’s portfolio, the issue was underperformance of U.S. equities.

From News 10:

New York’s pension fund for government workers reports a decline to $178.3 billion following a negative return of less than 1 percent in its latest quarter.

Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli, the fund’s trustee, says investor “challenges” in the quarter ending Sept. 30 followed a “robust” previous quarter when the fund reached a record $180.7 billion.

It has about 38 percent of assets in domestic stocks, 17 percent in international stocks, 27 percent in cash, bonds and mortgages, 8 percent in private equity, 7 percent in real estate and the rest in other investments.

DiNapoli says Wednesday some gains were offset by underperforming U.S. stocks and global central bank actions that made international markets volatile.

For the fiscal year that ended March 31, the fund reported a 13 percent return on investment.

The Common Retirement Fund manages assets for New York’s Employees’ Retirement System (ERS) and Police and Fire Retirement System (PFRS).

New York’s Sole Pension Trustee Faces New Competition In Election

Two-term New York Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli is the sole trustee of New York’s largest pension funds, but he’s now facing competition from an unlikely source: a local auditor named Robert Antonacci who claims he is more qualified than DiNapoli.

From The Associated Press:

Democratic New York Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli, chief financial officer for the state, faces an election challenge from a little-known accountant and lawyer who does similar work for Onondaga County and says he’s more qualified.

Robert Antonacci said the power of the checkbook is the key to whether state programs — such as economic development projects — are delivering. The 49-year-old Republican also said that following the flow of money through politics is how you clean up corruption.

“You can really get into the engine of government from the experience I have,” Antonacci said. “We’re going to look at everything in terms of what makes New York state tick.”

State economic development efforts, seeding proposed business expansions with tax breaks, funding or other support in return for promised jobs, will be a big initiative if he’s elected, Antonacci said. The Cuomo administration’s Start-Up New York program is one place the comptroller should be looking and verifying data, he said.

“We’re going to start with the governor and the Legislature, not the village of Podunk,” he said, referring to the mission of the comptroller’s office to audit government entities small and large.

[…]

“When you talk about getting at the underbelly of how governments run, as a CPA I have 30 years of experience of understanding how business operates,” he said. “The data is the key, and when you’ve got a CPA looking at a financial statement it’s a lot different than somebody who doesn’t have that experience.”

Both candidates have addressed the state’s pension system, as managing the fund’s investments is a large part of the comptrollers job. From AP:

[DiNapoli’s] stewardship has helped New York’s pension fund for public workers rebound from the 2008 national recession and grow to a record $181 billion, with state and municipal contribution rates declining for 2015 and 2016, he said.

[…]

As for the state’s $180 billion pension fund, Antonacci said his goal will be maximizing the return to taxpayers and not shareholder activism.

DiNapoli, as the pension fund’s sole shareholder, has sponsored shareholder resolutions at large corporations calling for more complete disclosures of their political activities, environmental practices and workplace standards at the overseas factories of suppliers. DiNapoli said those measures help protect shareholders, their investments and the companies from potential risks.

The election will be held Nov. 4.

Photo by Awhill34 via Wikimedia Commons

Some NY State Police Officers Use Private Jobs to Boost Public Pensions

Publicly employed police officers are often contracted to work private events—from keeping the peace at retail stores around Christmas-time, to keeping an eye on the crowds at music festivals.

But an investigation by a New York newspaper found that several police departments in the state are letting the overtime racked up at private events count towards an officer’s public pension—a practice which the state Comptroller’s Office says is not allowed.

From the Times-Union:

The state Comptroller’s Office says overtime reimbursed by a private company does not count toward an officer’s pension benefit.

But the Times Union found that several Capital Region police departments — including those in Colonie, Schenectady and Troy — report private duty overtime to the retirement system.

“I think a lot of people might be surprised to the extent with which this happens around the state,” said E.J. McMahon, president of Empire Center for Public Policy, an Albany think tank. “You can actually bolster your pension with time spent working in uniform on private time.”

Taxpayers should care about the practice, McMahon said, because pensions are lifelong payments backed by taxpayer dollars.

The legality of using private duty details as part of the pension calculation is murky. Several retirees are appealing the comptroller’s position in state Supreme Court.

The retirement of a Guilderland police officer who worked overtime at Crossgates Mall brought the issue to the attention of many Capital Region police chiefs. As a result, Guilderland stopped reporting private work to the retirement system and, last month, Bethlehem prohibited officers from working the jobs.

Albany and Saratoga Springs also comply with the comptroller’s view that private overtime is not pension eligible.

But several high-ranking police officials have publicly raised concerns about whether its fair to disallow private jobs when calculating pension benefits. From the Times-Union:

“Anytime a man or woman is in police uniform, they are on police duty, period,” Colonie Police Chief Steven Heider said.

Heider considers the officers on-duty, accountable to the police department and exposed to the dangers of police work.

Last year, Colonie police collected about $120,000 in reimbursements from private entities for police details, which Heider said are assigned by rotation. About 40 percent came from patrols at Colonie Center mall.

The town reported the wages to the retirement system as pension eligible.

Colonie requested guidance from the comptroller about whether to report the wages as pension eligible, but never heard back, Heider said. If the comptroller advises Colonie to stop, the town will, he said.

Of the seven police departments in upstate New York’s Capital Region, three departments allow private duty overtime to count toward public pensions. Officers in those departments have racked up nearly $200,000 in private duty overtime last year, according to the Times-Union investigation.

Photo by Giacomo Barbaro via Flickr CC License