New York, NY —

A new study finds that New York City pays an average of $107,000 per municipal worker in wages and benefits. The Citizens Budget Commission says that figure has grown by 63 percent since 2000. WNYC's Lisa Chow reports.

REPORTER: The commission says paying out pension benefits are costing the city more and more each year. In 2000, New York paid about $2,500 per full-time employee. Last year, the commission says, the city paid $20,000. That's a 700 percent increase. Carol Kellermann is president of the Citizens Budget Commission.

KELLERMANN: If we don't institute some controls they will continue to grow. and it's not sustainable. it takes up more and more of our tax dollars every year and there's less and less available to provide services.

REPORTER: Under state law, the city can't touch current pension benefits. Mayor Bloomberg has already asked the governor and Albany to create another pension tier, which would give future hires a smaller pension than current and retired city workers already have. For WNYC, I'm Lisa Chow.