A new attitude in the governor’s office toward double dipping is likely to cost former Niagara County Sheriff Thomas A. Beilein—the current head of the State Commission on Corrections — about $110,000.

Five months after Beilein was named head of the state panel, the commission requested that he be allowed to collect his full $101,600 state salary as well as his full $66,148 annual pension — retroactive to the day he got the job in mid- August.

But four months later, before the waiver request was acted upon, and with the governor’s office discouraging double dipping among top-level employees, the request was withdrawn.

“It was withdrawn when it was clear it would not be granted,” commission spokesman John M. Caher said.

Still, from the time Beilein was appointed until today, he has received a full pension and paycheck.

Since his waiver was not approved, Beilein assumes he will have to pay some of his pension back, Caher said.

“He hasn’t spent it,” Caher said. “He’s assuming he’ll have to pay it back.”

The state comptroller’s office is currently reviewing Beilein’s records, spokeswoman Emily DeSantis said. “If we determine he exceeded the . . . limit, we will seek recovery of the overpayment and the pension fund will be made whole,” she said.

Under state law, a pension is halted once a pensioner earns $30,000 in one year from a post-retirement state or local government job. The pension restarts the next year but stops again when the $30,000 limit is hit. Those with waivers are exempt from the limit, as are those 65 and older.

Beilein contacted the state each time his post-retirement salary hit $30,000, according to Caher. But at that point, his waiver was still pending.

The Buffalo News estimates that Beilein, who will turn 63 in August, now owes the pension system about $23,000 and that he’s likely to forgo about $110,000 in pension payments over three years because he doesn’t have a waiver. After that, Beilein will be 65 and able to collect his full pension and paycheck.

Beilein retired from the Niagara County Sheriff’s Office on July 25, 2008, when he began collecting his $66,148 annual pension. A couple of weeks later, on Aug. 8, he was granted a five-year appointment to the State Commission on Corrections, which oversees state and local prisons. On Aug. 11, Gov. David A. Paterson named Beilein commission chairman, a post that pays $101,600 annually.

After consulting with Beilein, the commission’s human resources office in January asked the state Department of Civil Service to grant Beilein a waiver allowing him to keep his full pension.

The request explained why Beilein, with experience in law enforcement and criminal justice, was uniquely qualified for the job. It said that no nonretired applicants were available.

The request was set to go on the civil service panel’s April calendar for a vote.

But at the time, the state was under heavy criticism for what was viewed as an excessive number of waivers being granted. The same month that Beilein’s waiver request was to be voted on, the governor’s office circulated a memorandum to the heads of state agencies and public authorities regarding waivers.

“Waivers generally should not be sought for high-level executive personnel,” the memo reads. Any exceptions would have to be approved by the governor’s office before going to the civil service panel.

Two days after that memo was circulated, Beilein’s waiver request was withdrawn.

Beilein agreed to stay on the job without the waiver, Caher said.