Pain in the bra$$
Two retired NYPD commanders awarded yearly pensions of $77,000 and $76,000 are complaining that’s not enough — and have gone to court trying to squeeze thousands of dollars more out of the cash-strapped pension fund.
The battle involves claims by John Timoney and Joseph Dunne, each of whom served both as chief of department, the highest ranking NYPD uniformed position, and first deputy police commissioner, a civilian slot and the second-most powerful job in the NYPD.
The fight is over a section of the city’s Administrative Code concerning their pensions’ “spouse-survivor benefit,” which allows husbands and wives to collect after a cop’s death.
NYPD cops are expected to pay extra for this benefit, with the added costs deducted from their pensions at rates that depend on the age of the spouse.
Timoney and Dunne insist that because of their high positions, they are covered not by that section of the code, but by one that specifically grants the benefit for free.
Karen Seemen, senior counsel for the city Law Department’s Pension Division, told The Post their argument “is wholly unprecedented, has no support in the law, and is an example of public retirees who attempt to abuse the pension system.”
Paying for the benefit has never before been challenged by a retiring department chief.
But Philip Seelig, the lawyer who represents both men, insists that the Administrative Code “unambiguously” exempts NYPD chiefs of department from having to pay for the added benefit, according to court papers.
Timoney retired from the NYPD in 1996 with 28 years of service and went on to become the top cop in both Philadelphia and Miami.
He was awarded an NYPD pension of $86,333 annually, but wound up getting $76,457.37 to account for the cost of the survivor’s benefit, according to his court papers.
Seelig says the nearly $10,000-a-year difference is money that has been wrongly deducted from his client’s wallet for years — and he wants Timoney reimbursed and his pension corrected to reflect the higher figure with the spouse-survivor benefit kept intact.
He quoted the code saying former chiefs of department are entitled to pensions “without any decrease resulting from withdrawals, loans, optional modification, payment of his or her contributions for old age and survivor’s insurance coverage, or from any other transaction authorized by law.”
Dunne, who was nearly killed at the World Trade Center on 9/11, retired in 2002 with 32 years of service.
His pension has yet to be finalized due to the ongoing legal battle, but he’s getting about $77,000 annually, which is some $8,500 less than what he’s entitled to, according to his suit.
Under city law, both men already get pensions computed at a higher rate than do other cops — two-thirds of their final salary, as opposed to half — because of their former status as chiefs of department.
Seemen said, “Mr. Timoney and Mr. Dunne interpret the statute to mean they are entitled not only to pensions equalizing two-thirds of their annual salary, but also that upon their deaths, their beneficiaries should continue to receive the generous two-third pensions.
“We strongly disagree.”
