REVEALED: Oregon public university president receives a $76,111 A MONTH taxpayer-funded pension

  • Dr Joe Robertson retired as president of the Oregon Health & Science University in October last year 
  • The 66-year-old is receiving a monthly taxpayer-funded pension of $76,111
  • His pension is considerably higher than what the average family in Oregon earns a year with the median household income being $57,532 in 2016
  • His high pension is a result of the Oregon Public Employees Retirement System
  • Pensions paid out by PERS are reportedly consuming other essential spending

By Emily Crane For Dailymail.com

Published: 10:08 EDT, 15 April 2018 | Updated: 12:19 EDT, 15 April 2018

A former Oregon eye surgeon and public university president is receiving a $76,111 a month taxpayer-funded pension after retiring late last year. 

Dr Joe Robertson, the former president of Oregon Health & Science University, will receive an annual pension of $913,000, which is the state's largest public pension.

The 66-year-old's pension is considerably higher than what the average family in Oregon earns a year. The median household income for the state was $57,532 in 2016, according to Census data.

Dr Joe Robertson, the former president of Oregon Health & Science University, will receive an annual pension of $913,000, which is the state's largest public pension

Dr Joe Robertson, the former president of Oregon Health & Science University, will receive an annual pension of $913,000, which is the state's largest public pension

Robertson's high pension is a result of the Oregon Public Employees Retirement System, which calculates benefits and sometimes includes income that employees have earned on the side. 

The state retirement system, also known as PERS, is carried by taxpayers with cities and school districts, for example, contributing money to keep it alive.   

PERS releases the updated pension roll each year to The Oregonian newspaper. The database includes information on nearly 130,000 people receiving pension benefits as of January.

According to the New York Times, the high pensions paid out by PERS are consuming other essential spending, which means there is less money for services like police and school sports programs.

Some city managers say they have had to reduce spending on repairing streets and bridges to keep up with the rising costs of PERS.

Roberston was the former president of Oregon Health & Science University before he retired in October. He will still serve as president through the end of the academic year without a salary

Roberston was the former president of Oregon Health & Science University before he retired in October. He will still serve as president through the end of the academic year without a salary

Robertson retired at the end of last October after working for the university for 33 years.

His long career at the university, unused sick or vacation time and high salary in his last three years, which averaged nearly $1.7 million, were factors of his high pension.

Robertson's pension surpasses that of university neurosurgeon Johnny Delashaw, who retired in 2015 and receives annual benefits of nearly $685,000.

It also exceeds the pension of former University of Oregon football coach Mike Bellotti, who retired in 2010 and receives about $559,000 in annual benefits.

Recent retirees receive on average about $32,000 annually through the state system. About 2,000 beneficiaries earn more than $100,000 each year.

Robertson is continuing to serve as president through the end of the academic year without a salary. He also plans to continue his work with one of the university's health institutes. 

His long career at the university, unused sick or vacation time and high salary in his last three years, which averaged nearly $1.7 million, were factors of his high pension

His long career at the university, unused sick or vacation time and high salary in his last three years, which averaged nearly $1.7 million, were factors of his high pension

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