Over 30 years of retirement, Thomas would collect as much as $4.88 million, according to a projection by Local Government Information Services (LGIS), which publishes Lake County Gazette.
The projection assumes Thomas received $102,606 in the first year of retirement, then 3 percent annual increases thereafter, compounded.
After 3 years of retirement, Thomas will have already received $317,145 in retirement benefits, or more than the sum total of the retiree's contributions to the teachers' pension fund.