Rick Armon / Akron Beacon Journal

Despite spending more than $4 billion annually on state and local government pensions, Ohio taxpayers have little access to retirement records.

They cannot find out how much they paid toward workers' pensions or how much taxpayer money a retiree receives. They can't know how well the pension systems track potential abuse, or worse, if they are being taken advantage of.

And state lawmakers are being asked to consider reforms -- that could cost hundreds of millions more a year -- without specific details being public.

Ohioans now pay into benefits for nearly 400,000 public retirees. Yet, state law prevents Ohio's five public pension systems from disclosing much about their retirement earnings.

"It's outrageous. That is not the kind of transparency that we need in government," said Matt Mayer, president of the Buckeye Institute for Public Policy Solutions in Columbus.

"These gold-plated pensions are one of the greatest drivers of public government and if we can't determine how we are compensating these folks with taxpayer money, we can't fix the ever-increasing cost of government," Mayer said.

But not everyone is upset. Many defend keeping the information private, saying that the retirees are no longer public workers and their pension income isn't the public's business.

Ohio's pension systems date to 1920. In the beginning, financial records for individual retirees were considered public documents. But the state legislature moved in 1965 and 1976 -- just as it significantly improved benefits -- to exempt them from public view.

Today, the Ohio Public Employees Retirement System, State Teachers Retirement System of Ohio and School Employees Retirement System of Ohio will release the names and addresses of retirees and members but nothing else. The Ohio Police & Fire Pension Fund and the Ohio Highway Patrol Retirement System will release no details related to individual retirees -- not even their names.

The five systems denied public records requests for financial information about retirees. The requests were filed on behalf of the state's eight largest newspapers.

Unlike Ohio, at least 21 states -- including New York, Florida and Illinois -- consider financial benefits for retirees a matter of public record. At least 26 states prohibit the release of such information. Other states did not return calls.

Government watchdog groups and the media in the open states have exposed eye-popping pensions and potential abuses -- details that are hidden from Ohioans.

A Chicago Sun-Times investigation last year found three Illinois public employees who have topped $3 million in pension benefits since retiring. Others earned more than their final salaries, thanks to automatic 3 percent annual increases.

The California Foundation for Fiscal Responsibility sued to obtain pension records and created an online database of public retirees earning more than $100,000 a year. Taxpayers have been shocked to learn how public employees play the system, said Marcia Fritz, the group's president.

There are plenty of stories about public workers in Ohio playing the system.

Currently, pensions are awarded based on the highest three years of salary -- although there are proposals to raise that to five. Some individuals spike their salaries with overtime or other pay in those final years to boost their pension.

Others may work low-paying jobs for years and then nab a high-paid political position just before they retire, meaning they paid little toward their large pension check. In other cases, workers retire and go immediately back into the same public job, improving their personal income by collecting a paycheck and pension at the same time.

Democratic State Reps. Matt Lundy of Elyria and Stephen Dyer of Green said it would be easier for lawmakers considering reforms if financial details were available.

"You can't make a tough decision if you don't have all the information," Lundy said. "It's not a taxpayer-friendly system."

Dyer said he and Lundy are drafting legislation to require more openness based on the newspapers' inquiry.

William Estabrook, executive director of the police and fire pension fund, said he would not have a problem with making some financial records public, but that the fund keeps an eye out for potential abuses. Last year, the pension board banned the practice of packing on overtime to boost salaries and, ultimately, pensions, in the final three years of employment.

PERS, the largest pension system with nearly 171,000 retirees and the one most ripe for political abuse, did not respond to multiple requests to discuss the issue of public records.