Politics on the Hudson

   Gov. David Paterson is preparing to sign pension-reform legislation this morning at the North Hempstead Town Hall in Manhasset, Long Island. Lawmakers approved adding a new pension level, tier V, for newly hired employees.

   The benefits are less generous than the lower tiers, will require workers to contribute more toward their retirement plans, and will increase the minimum retirement age to receive full benefits after 30 years of service.

   “The issue really is that for years we were really able to offer very generous packages to employees but as time as gone on, simply we do not have the revenues to support it.” he said.

   Paterson made a deal with public-worker unions in June that he wouldn’t change their contracted raises and they wouldn’t oppose establishing a new tier and a $20,000-per-employee buyout to promote early retirement. The legislation caps how much overtime can be included to calculate retirement benefits, a measure to prevent workers’ ability to pad their pensions.

   The governor’s Division of the Budget has a link on its Web page that projects how much communities around the state will save because of the new pension tier. Taxpayers are expected to save a total of more than $35 billion over the next 30 years, according to the Budget Division.

   Here are some regional estimates over 30 years:

  —Hudson Valley—$6.4 billion

  —Western New York—$2.8 billion

  —Rochester/Finger Lakes—$2.5 billion

  —Central New York—$2.1 billion

  —Southern Tier—$936 million

  —State government—$8.4 billion

  —Government entities that serve multiple regions—$1.6 billion.

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