Some Retirees "Cashing In" On The State

(WGHP) - When state budget writers follow the suggestion from "All the President's Men" to "follow the money," it always comes back to the same place.

Nearly 77 cents out of every dollar from taxpayers goes to salaries and benefits of state employees and retirees, said Brian Balfour of the Civitas Institute, a Raleigh think tank.

Some who no longer work in the state get annual pensions reaching six digits. The News and Observer reported Charles Franklin, who ran part of the state's mental health system, receives a pension of more than $200,000 a year.

Dean Smith, thought to be a multimillionaire, receives a pension of nearly $200,000 a year as well. More locally, Terry Grier, former superintendent of Guilford County Schools, gets a $113,000 pension every year on top of the $300,000 annual salary he gets as superintendent of the Houston Independent School District.