Pension Data in New York State

According to state records, over 300,000 individuals in New York enjoy state pensions of at least $20,000 each year.

Out of this group, more than 12,000—approximately 3.97%—receive pensions that exceed $100,000 annually. Interestingly, 110 people across the state are receiving more than $200,000 per year in pension benefits.

Kara Venous Hubertus from Westchester Medical Center holds the record for the highest pension in the state, with an impressive amount of more than $503,000 a year, as documented by the state Comptroller’s Office.

This pension data was made public following a Freedom of Information Act request from syracuse.com. The figures provide a snapshot of New York State’s pension system as of September 30.

The data originates from both the State Employees Retirement System and the New York State Police and Fire Retirement System.

For those interested, the top 25 pension recipients in Onondaga County can be found in the accompanying table. If it’s not visible, you can access it through an external link.

Among the top five pensioners in Onondaga County are Sharon Kleiber, Katherine Mooney, and Richard O’Shea, all of whom served as administrators at Upstate Medical University or its related hospital in Syracuse. The fifth position is held by Steven Kabuto, a former deputy fire chief in Syracuse.

Kabuto’s pension is influenced by a prior agreement between the city and the firefighters union, permitting union members to enhance their pensions by accumulating additional overtime during their final year of service. It’s a bit of an interesting arrangement, really.

Third place goes to William Fitzpatrick, the Onondaga County District Attorney. He has been receiving both his pension—over $133,000 annually—and his regular salary since 2020, which is allowed under state law.

If you want to dive deeper, you can access a searchable database for pension records statewide. This includes anyone receiving pensions of $20,000 or more from the State Employees’ Retirement System or the New York State Police and Fire Retirement System.

Searching is pretty straightforward; you can enter either a full or partial name of an employee or employer. Alternatively, you can search by county using a simple list box.