Georgia ports officials make big bucks, pensions

It’s good, highly remunerative work if you can get it at the state agency that runs the ports of Savannah and Brunswick.

The past two directors of the Georgia Ports Authority, for example, will combine to earn $1 million in pension payments alone this year. And the top 10 executives at the GPA each earned more than $200,000, according to documents obtained by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Critics say the pay, pensions, bonuses and consultant fees are outlandish and unwarranted at the ports, which are heavily subsidized by taxpayers. Gov. Nathan Deal, for example, labeled the pensions “exorbitant.” Port officials, though, say other ports and business try to lure away GPA staffers so the good pay and benefits are warranted.