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Paterson Aides Who Took Early Retirement Now Back on Payroll, Report Says

By Michael P. Ventura | November 1, 2010 4:28pm
Gov. David Paterson.
Gov. David Paterson.
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DNAinfo/Joshua Williams

By Nicole Bode

DNAinfo Senior Editor

MANHATTAN —  Gov. David Paterson rehired nearly 200 state workers less than a month after they took early-retirement packages offerining fat bonuses, the New York Post reported on Monday.

In what the governor's office called a winning "deal" for taxpayers, the 193 "retirees" were largely brought back as part-time hourly workers, the paper reported.

One of the rehires, Kathryn Weaver, Paterson's former assistant appointments officer, could potentially make more than her original $91,600-a-year salary when her new pension and $35-an-hour wages are added together, the Post found, citing a report from Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli.

But now the lion's share of the cost is shifted from the state payroll to the pension fund, according to the paper.

"Ultimately, taxpayers are winning out on this deal," said Paterson spokesman Morgan Hook, according to the Post. "They're getting someone with 39 years of state service to do what amounts to the same job at part-time pay."

The early-retirement incentive has trimmed more than 3,600 employees from the state payroll, but experts told the Post that the costly buyout packages have backfired, costing the taxpayers much more than if the state had just administered layoffs.