There is doing what’s right and doing what’s legal, they are not always the same thing. People are entitled to what they signed up for, and many do contribute a small percentage (someone here mentioned 6%) of their income into a state pension system, I don’t think anyone is complaining about that. I would argue that many municipal pension programs were negotiated with the unions by power hungry politicians without consideration of the legacy costs on that community for decades to follow, but that’s a separate discussion.
Gaming the system by rolling over 20 years worth of PTO and sick days to cash out in the last three years, as well as working as much OT as possible in those last three years to double one’s salary “adjusts” the pension amount much higher than it would’ve been otherwise. Not illegal, but rubs many of us the wrong way. For this to work it must be systematic abuse with complicit management and policies. If done in the private sector, whatever, but in the public sector that additional burden falls squarely on the taxpayers (hello increased property taxes). Compound that extra money annually over 20-40 years and we’re talking millions of dollars potentially. An extra $25K for 25 years costs the taxpayer $650K, $40K for 40 years costs the taxpayer $1.64M, not to mention the opportunity cost over time on those funds.
Ever look at the property taxes on homes in places like NJ or CT with strong public unions? My buddy in NJ pays $10K per year on a $400K home, my family in CT pays $10K per year on a $350K home in shithole Middletown. My property taxes in AZ are $2600 on $465K.