Pennsylvania Auditor General Eugene DePasquale said a settlement by Scranton's nonuniform pension board will save the city more than $600,000 by eliminating enhanced payments.
"I am pleased that our special report on the Scranton pension situation has - at least in part - contributed to the move by Scranton officials to halt unauthorized retirement payments and save the city more than half of a million dollars," DePasquale said in a statement.
DePasquale issued a special report in June about unauthorized double-pension payouts, saying the city failed to properly analyze, document, and implement the retirement benefit incentive former Mayor Chris Doherty provided retirees in 2002 and 2007.
In addition, an audit DePasquale released in 2014 of Scranton's pension plans found the city could go bankrupt in three to five years. Its non-uniformed pension plan was 23% funded as of January 2013. Firefighter and police plans were 16.7% and 28.8% funded, respectively.
"While this settlement is a start, Scranton is still facing a huge pension challenge. Scranton city officials must continue to do everything in their power to avoid bankruptcy and protect the economic interests of all the people in the region," DePasquale said.
Under the settlement announced late last week, six double-pension recipients in Scranton do not have to repay excess benefits they received since 2002, but will not receive the additional money starting in January.
While the deal forgives repayment of about $500,000 in excess benefits, eliminating the payouts will provide greater savings to the pension fund, board solicitor Larry Durkin told the Times-Tribune newspaper.
