2025 Taxpayer Abusers in Focus and
Featured in the Hall of Shame

While Floridians celebrate Fat Tuesday with beads and baked goods, Florida’s public pension system is serving up something far richer: 33,259 taxpayer-funded pension cash bonuses, including 795 payouts over $1 million.

A new analysis of December 2025 pension records reveals:

• 795 individuals received $1,000,000+ pension cash bonuses
• 4,679 received between $500,000 and $999,999
• 19,862 received between $200,000 and $499,999
• 33,259 total DROP cash bonuses statewide
• Annual pension estimates topping $230,000 per year
• No public hearings, no taxpayer consent, no agency transparency

“This gluttony of taxpayer money is driving up property taxes,” said David Jaye, Researcher at TripleDippers.org. “These outrageous pension bonuses drive up property taxes while 85% of taxpayers have no pension at all.” Pension cash bonuses have created $43 Billion in unfunded state Pension liability. Politicians and bureaucrats should be satisfied with the standard generous pension and retirement health subsidies.”

The Baker’s Dozen: Florida’s Top 13 Pension Cash Bonuses

1. John Kraft — University of Florida — $2,413,877
2. Robert L. Allen — Palm Beach Co Sheriff’s Dept — $2,308,780
3. Mark B. Alexander — Palm Beach Co Sheriff’s Dept — $2,121,912
4. Alexander D. Casas — Florida International University — $2,083,029
5. Jason M. Wasielewski — Palm Beach County Board of County Commissioners — $1,983,166
6. Jose R. Cruz — Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office — $1,982,796
7. Juan Segovia — Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office — $1,970,107
8. Todd R. Turner — Palm Beach County Board of County Commissioners — $1,967,938
9. Richard J. Lutz — University of Florida — $1,944,296
10. Andrew J. Meyers — Broward Co Board of County Commissioners — $1,913,169
11. Gerard P. Watkins — Broward Co Sheriff’s Dept — $1,888,140
12. Scott E. Ogden — Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office — $1,848,979
13. Sean P. Murray — Palm Beach Co Sheriff’s Dept — $1,844,342

 The  Problem

Florida’s DROP pension bonus program allows politicians and public employees to “retire on paper” while continuing to work and accumulate a pension bonus that compounds monthly. These Triple Dippers also don’t pay the standard 3% of their salary into the pension system, shifting personal responsibility to taxpayers.  Six months after collecting the pension bonus bureaucrats can return to their old job. Politicians who collect pension cash bonuses can ask for special politician permission not to leave their political position for six months. See: https://tripledippers.org/triple-dippers-hall-of-shame/

Meanwhile:

• 303 city and special district pension systems were created outside the FRS so city employees can collect 50% to 85% higher pension bonuses than State Employees, teachers, Deputy Sheriffs and other County employees.
• Many City pension bonuses compound at 6.5% monthly, compared to FRS’s 4%
• These systems cost taxpayers $2 million+ per year just to administer while joining the FRS is Free.
• Estimated Total Members in Non‑FRS Pension Systems: ≈ 75,000 to 105,000 people
• Are not standardized, transparent or regulated  like the FRS

“Florida City retirement systems are pension bonus factories,” Jaye said. “They exist to pay bigger bonuses than the FRS—and taxpayers are footing the bill.  “More than 75,000 local government employees are in pension systems that compound at 6.5% monthly — 62.5% richer than the FRS Teachers, State Employees, Sheriff Deputies and other County Employees.” Michigan outlawed DROP pension bonuses almost 30 years ago in 1997 when it closed its state pension plan. Michigan taxpayers are protected from the million‑dollar pension cash bonuses that Florida still pays with crushingly high Property taxes.

Call to Action

TripleDippers.org is calling for Florida Legislators to require:

• Full public disclosure of all pension cash bonuses both the State FRS and City- Special District by full name, Job Title, current Salary, DROP Begin, DROP end and Projected Pension bonus
• Annual reporting of pension online
• Legislative limit existing FRS DROP and local pension systems to $50,000 and outlawing the Pension Bonus system as Michigan did in 1997.
• Immediate compliance with all outstanding public records requests- City of Cape Coral is refusing to release pension data, even though its vendor provides this information annually

“Fat Tuesday is the perfect day to expose government indulgence,” Jaye said. “It’s time to end the pension feast on taxpayers and end pension bonuses to fund property tax relief.

Source:
Florida DMS — Local Retirement Plans
https://www.dms.myflorida.com/workforce_operations/retirement/local_retirement_plans

Florida Department of Management Services — Division of Retirement
Local Government Annual Report
https://www.dms.myflorida.com/workforce_operations/retirement/local_retirement_plans

Closing Pensions for State Employees in 1990s Saved Michigan Millions Today

https://www.mackinac.org/22341

https://tripledippers.org/fl-statewide-tripledippers-oct-2025/

Milliman presentation from the October 21, 2025 FRS Actuarial Assumption Conference, which shows the preliminary July 1, 2025 UAL at $43.2 billion

https://edr.state.fl.us/content/conferences/actuarial/FRSActuarialAssumptionConferenceMillimanPresentation.pdf