County DA Investigator Has Drawn More Than $200 K “Double-Dipping” Since 2010

MAYVILLE – A senior investigator with the Chautauqua County District Attorney’s Office has sought and received permission to collect his public pension while being paid by the local government on four different occasions, and most recently in July 2016. 
This information from SeeThroughNY comes as the DA’s office is under increased pressure to retry several cases that ended in mistrials in 2017.
Daniel Johnson first sought to “double dip” in July of 2010, according to data accessible to the public on SeeThroughNY.
Johnson’s initial request was approved on July 15, 2010, for $45,350. The request was good for two years.
Three other requests were approved in 2012, 2014, and 2016, according to the website, with substantial increases every two years.
The requests totaled more than $205,000, Johnson’s most recent will end this July 14th.
The practice of “double-dipping” is legal, but has come under scrutiny from people who believe it doesn’t make sense to collect a pension and then go back to work after officially retiring.
The Empire Center, based in Albany, has been instrumental in bringing awareness to the issue.
The non-profit and non-partisan think tank claims its dedicated to promoting policies to make New York a better place to live, work and do business.
“These waivers are supposed to be used as temporary solutions for the rare instances when a retiree is the only person available and qualified to do a job,” said Tim Hoefer, Executive Director of the Empire Center.
“Taxpayers are ultimately responsible for backing public pension benefits and paying public worker salaries. They have a good reason to question why they’re paying someone twice.”