At least 83 retired state and local government employees in North County and Southwest Riverside County earn more than $100,000 per year in pension payments, according to a report released Wednesday by the California Foundation for Fiscal Responsibility, a Sacramento nonprofit organization.

Those levels of compensation for state and municipal employees are unsustainable, said Marcia Fritz, vice chairwoman of the organization.

"We could run out of money, literally," Fritz said. "I'm worried about pension plans becoming insolvent. There will be dramatic cuts in services if we don't do anything to stop the flow of benefits concentrated on retirement rather than current employees."

Supporters of the California Public Employees' Retirement System say the pension benefits help keep governments competitive with private-sector jobs that may pay more but don't typically offer pensions.

Across the state, 4,818 employees earn more than $100,000 in state pensions, according to the group's report. That number was from May 2008 and each month, an additional 120 retirees break the $100,000 barrier, Fritz said.

The listing does not include public school teachers or other separate pension fund employees, including San Diego County retirees.

In North County, the city of Carlsbad had the most six-figure retirees with 24, followed by Escondido with 18 and Oceanside with 10. San Marcos had three and Vista four.

In Southwest Riverside County, the numbers were few and far between, with two Temecula retirees earning more than $100,000, one in Murrieta and another in Lake Elsinore.

The state's pension plan, known as CalPERS, has been battered by turmoil in the financial markets. Its portfolio has dropped about 27 percent since June 30, 2008, to $175.6 billion as of Tuesday.

Managers of the state pension system point out that the fund has performed substantially better than stock indexes and say it remains on sound financial footing.

Retirees' pension checks haven't been reduced following the market crash because the benefits are guaranteed by state law. CalPERS passes through its costs to governments that use its fund, so cities and active workers are on the hook for any shortfall. State pension managers have alerted state and local governments that premiums could rise beginning in June.

Under California's system, it is possible for retirees to earn more from their pensions than they did while working.

In 2002, most state and local governments instituted a 50 percent increase in benefits for active workers to "3 percent at 30," meaning employees with 30 years of service could receive 3 percent of their salary multiplied by the number of years they worked, or 90 percent, when they retired. After a few years of cost-of-living adjustments, some employees could see their pension benefits exceed their salaries while employed.

Before the increase seven years ago, most pension benefits were capped at 2 percent of the salary multiplied by the number of years of service.

And the pension benefits are blind to the status of the employee, meaning some retirees can return to work at another company, earning a salary as well as the pension benefits.

For example, Mike Poehlman left as Oceanside's chief of police in 2005 for the same position in Reno, Nev.

Now, he draws checks for $142,000 per year from California's pension program and earns a salary of about $168,000 from the city of Reno, according to the Sacramento nonprofit and the Reno Gazette-Journal.

Poehlman, who worked 27 years in the CalPERS system, was not available for comment Wednesday.

Another such example is Ray Patchett, who worked as Carlsbad's city manager. According to the foundation's report, Patchett is the seventh-highest earning retiree in the state's pension fund. He worked 34 years within the CalPERS system.

Patchett earns about $240,000 in pension benefits while maintaining his own consulting firm he set up after retiring. He charges between $150 and $200 per hour and works about 20 hours per week, he said.

"I think I earned what I'm getting from my pension, and when I work I earn for the work I'm doing," Patchett said.

Carlsbad Mayor Bud Lewis, who hopes to reform the city's pension plans over the next two years, said he agreed with Patchett.

"From what Ray Patchett accomplished in Carlsbad, I think he earned every penny," Lewis said.

Still, Lewis said the city's pension system is unsustainable and that benefits for future workers need to be re-examined.

Carlsbad might have more wiggle room than other cities following the market turmoil; Standard & Poor's recently awarded the city a credit rating of "AAA," the highest level possible.

"The unions are very progressive," Lewis said. "The idea that salaries are going to remain where they are, according to the unions, is not what they want to accomplish. They want them higher and higher, and I understand that, but somewhere the bubble is going to burst. I think at some point we need to get away from this idea of 3 percent."

Contact staff writer Zach Fox at (760) 740-5412 or zfox@nctimes.com. Read his blogs at bizblogs.nctimes.com.