David Peck, Marcia McCormack and Alice Love all retired from their jobs in the state judicial branch on the last day of 2010, each cashing out tens of thousands of dollars in unused vacation and sick time.

After the long New Year's weekend, Peck and McCormack returned to the office, doing some of their same duties but on a part-time basis — simultaneously collecting their state pensions and state paychecks.

Love's first work day as a part-timer came the following week, part of her contract to work 121 days a year.

Peck made out the best, receiving $84,429 in unused sick, vacation and accumulated termination pay, $55,997 in part-time pay and $67,010 from his pension in 2011. Including a deduction of $1,053 for furlough time, Peck collected $206,383 in 2011, according to state payroll and pension records reviewed by the New Hampshire Sunday News.

Money saver?

Some people think receiving a pension and working part time for the state at the same time is wrong, but others say it saves the taxpayers money.

Rep. Neal Kurk, R-Weare, who has pushed for pension reforms, said state and local communities often get seasoned employees without having to pay for fringe benefits, including contributions to the state pension system in which many local police, fire and teachers also have membership. “Taxpayers really make out,” Kurk said.

Neither the state Division of Personnel nor the New Hampshire Retirement System tracks how many pensioners also collect a paycheck from the state. But Karen Hutchins, the state's director of personnel, estimates the number at under 100.

“If I would give a ballpark, it would be in the 50s,” Hutchins said. “Most people who retire want to retire.”

The 2011 calendar year marked the first time taxpayers could match pay, pension and other compensation earned by public employees. That was made possible when the state Supreme Court last November ordered the New Hampshire Retirement System to release the annual pension amounts for individuals after the New Hampshire Union Leader filed a court challenge.

Job shared

Peck and McCormack, both retired on Dec. 31, 2010. As of Jan. 4, 2011, they were sharing one full-time position, each at 18.75 hours per week, according to Laura Kiernan, communications director for the state's judicial branch.

“David continues to serve as reporter of decisions and Marcia continues duties as a deputy clerk, both positions that they held at the Supreme Court prior to their retirement,” Kiernan wrote in an email. “Some duties have been reassigned.”

On the state website listing employee compensation, it lists McCormack's job title as “deputy clerk-legal” in 2010 and “senior staff attorney” in 2011.

Kiernan, in a follow-up email, said both jobs share the same labor pay grade, but McCormack “continued some deputy clerk duties.”

In 2011, McCormack collected $61,084 in unused sick, vacation and accumulated termination pay, along with $49,156 in regular pay; $910 was deducted for furlough time. Along with her $43,845 pension, her total for 2011: $153,174.

Peck and McCormack declined comment.

‘Truly part time'

Love retired on Dec. 31, 2010 as a marital master and returned part time in the same role. She completed her part-time assignment last month. Love collected $71,798 in unused sick, vacation and accumulated termination pay, and $55,151 in regular pay in 2011, but had $430 deducted for furlough time. Along with her $42,753 pension, her total take in 2011: $169,272.

Lauren Thorn, who retired Jan. 31, 2011 from her judicial branch post after nearly 35 years of state service, collected $207,194 in 2011. She collected $66,509 in unused sick, vacation and accumulated termination pay, and $82,014 in regular pay in 2011, but had $1,339 deducted for furlough time. She also received a $60,010 pension for the remaining 11 months of 2011.

Love and Thorn couldn't be reached for comment.

On Feb. 2, 2011, Thorn began working 30 hours a week, split between a child support referee, the position she held prior to retirement, and as a referee at probable cause hearings on involuntary emergency admissions at New Hampshire Hospital, according to Kiernan, who officially retired last month and now works part time at the same job.

“The Judicial Branch benefits from the training and high-level experience of these employees, and salary costs to the state are significantly reduced. Moreover, no health or other benefits are provided to these part-time employees, which further reduces costs,” Supreme Court Chief Justice Linda Stewart Dalianis said in a statement.

“The state Legislature has recognized the value of part-time employees by allowing for part-time employment, and setting a ceiling on the number of hours that can be worked so that these employees are truly ‘part time.'”

At the Department of Transportation, Harvey Goodwin retired in 2009. Last year, the former turnpikes administrator worked on special projects, including open road tolling. He made $49,203 in regular pay, another $2,615 in other pay along with his $67,376 pension. His total: $119,195.

“The benefits of having retirees work part time is that you get their extensive knowledge and experience at reduced salaries ... without having to pay benefits beyond what they currently received as a retired state employee,” department spokesman Bill Boynton said in an email last week. “That's a win-win for the agencies and the taxpayers.”

Retirees who work

Rep. Kenneth Hawkins, R-Bedford, who chairs the House Pension Reform Committee, said he's heard arguments both for and against allowing retirees to work part time.

“There's a lot of folks in testimony we had in committee (saying) when you retire, you should be retired and not taking someone else's ability to make an earning. That's one of the arguments,” Hawkins said. “The other argument is why penalize me because I happen to work for an employer in the retirement system. If I retired from Massachusetts or New York, I could work here and there's no penalty.”

Hawkins said the House this year passed a bill that would have required towns and agencies enrolled in the state retirement system to take a count of how many are collecting pension benefits and working part time. The Senate killed the bill May 2.

“We want to see how much money is being paid to part-timers that are New Hampshire Retirement System retirees,” he said. “We don't know if that's $2 million a year or $30 million a year.”

According to a 2008 national survey, 39 of 42 states said they allowed for retirees from their public retirement system to receive a retirement benefit and a salary at the same time, according to the National Association of State Retirement Administrators, whose members direct the nation's state, territorial, and largest statewide public retirement systems.

Only four didn't limit benefits or impose conditions regarding re-employment. New Hampshire's retirement system was included in the survey.

32-hour maximum

Last year, legislative changes in New Hampshire clarified that retirees collecting from the New Hampshire Retirement System could work a maximum of 32 hours a week, except under a few exceptions, such as getting named to an appointed position, according to Marty Karlon, the retirement system's public information officer.

Last year, the New Hampshire Sunday News highlighted Robert Quinn's situation. He retired from the New Hampshire State Police in May 2010 and then took the job as its director. The appointed position allowed him to work full time while collecting his pension.

In 2011, Quinn earned $104,364 in regular pay and another $1,490 in fringe benefits and other pay. He also received a $93,791 pension, for a total of $199,645. (Police and firefighters don't pay into Social Security, so they don't receive those benefits.)

Earl Sweeney, assistant commissioner for the Department of Safety, said Quinn works long hours for no overtime and won't receive a second pension. He said Quinn's pension was part of his employee benefit package that went with his previous State Police job.

“The salary plus the benefit package is the compensation that the employer places as a value and offers in order to attract the caliber of person the employer feels is needed for the job,” said Sweeney, who collected a $39,949 pension in 2011 from the New Hampshire Retirement System for when he worked at the Belmont Police Department, including serving as its chief.

Asked specifically about Quinn's compensation, Sweeney wrote in an email: “How fair is it for a major league baseball player, pro football or basketball player to collect millions of dollars a year? How fair is it for a network news anchor to collect millions of dollars a year when you work for the Union Leader for far less?”