BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) - It's known as "pension padding" or "pension spiking." Now, Attorney General Andrew Cuomo is taking aim at skyrocketing public pensions that taxpayers are picking up the tab for.

Attorney General Andrew Cuomo gave these three examples of how so-called "pension padding" drives up costs, all at taxpayer expense. Cuomo cited the case of an unnamed police officer who retired with a base salary of $74,000, but added in overtime, sick time, and other compensation.

Cuomo said, "$125,000 is the inflated pay. So, the final pay is $199,000, about $200,000."

And Cuomo claims just the add-ons could run up that single pension by one and a quarter million dollars and taxpayers are stuck holding the bag. Erie County's fiscal watchdog says costs have quadrupled just in the last ten years.

Mark Poloncarz, Erie County Comptroller, said, "Erie County taxpayer contributions to the pension system rose from $5 million to over $20 million and it is projected that in the year 2012, Erie County's pension contribution will rise to approximately $27 million."

Three years ago, the Attorney General launched an investigation into fraud and corruption in the operation of the state's public employee pension fund, and last year, he turned his attention to padding, which is at least partly blamed on New York taxpayers being saddled with the highest pension costs in the country.

Stephen Aquario of the NYS Association of Counties said, "We need to reform the way we are doing things in Albany. Not because of this fiscal crisis, but because it is the right thing to do."

"It's one of those Albany stories. It's been going on for a long time, everyone knows it, nobody's done anything about it," said Cuomo.

Cuomo has notified Buffalo, and a number of state, local, and county officials, that their pensions are higher than the rest of the state. While criminal charges were filed in the earlier phases of the pension investigation, Cuomo concedes state law might have to be changed to crack down on "padding."

Assemblyman Jack Quinn and Senator George Maziarz both support Cuomo's actions.

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