Over 30 years of retirement, Gardner would collect as much as $5.45 million, according to a projection by Local Government Information Services (LGIS), which publishes Lake County Gazette.
The projection assumes Gardner received $114,516 in the first year of retirement, then 3 percent annual increases thereafter, compounded.
After 3 years of retirement, Gardner will have already received $353,957 in retirement benefits, or more than the sum total of the retiree's contributions to the teachers' pension fund.