A few weeks ago, the newspaper ran a story about the Retirement Systems of Alabama needing more money from the state in 2014 to cover retirees' pensions.

After the story ran, a reader asked us to find out how much revenue RSA's 10 "green top" office buildings were generating and what their occupancy levels were.

According to information from RSA, it generated $44,729,422 from the buildings in fiscal 2012. That's up from $26,850,090 in 2007 (but, four of the buildings didn't exist or weren't owned by RSA that year.)

RSA's newest Montgomery addition, its Dexter Avenue Building, which opened in late 2011, generated $880,050. It cost about $190 million to build, according to media reports.

It is now 51 percent leased.

Meanwhile, RSA's BankTrust Building in Mobile is 42 percent occupied. RSA bought that building in 2009. Joseph Toole, RSA's director of real estate, said it can take up to five years to fully lease a new building, depending on the city and economic climate.

Meanwhile, two of the system's buildings saw a slight dip in occupancy between 2007-12. The RSA Tower went from 99 percent leased to 95 percent, and the RSA Union Building went from 100 percent to 97 percent. But, both buildings' revenues had increased during the five-year period, according to information provided by Toole.

Paying interims

The state board of education voted last week to pay the woman who served as interim chancellor of the two-year college system $50,796 for filling in. But moving forward, they say they want a written policy on how much money interim chancellors or college presidents should receive.

Susan Price served as the community college system's leader for six months earlier this year until a permanent chancellor was found. The chancellor's base salary is $250,000 annually. Price, a vice chancellor, makes about $155,000. So, the board decided to split the difference for the six months.

Board member Stephanie Bell, of Montgomery, was the only one to vote against the additional compensation. She said her vote had nothing to do with Price or her performance as interim, but Bell said she didn't think interims should be paid above their normal salary and she didn't think that was the practice in many private-sector jobs.

"The opportunity (to be interim chancellor) is worth more than $50,000," Bell said. "It is priceless."

Gov. Robert Bentley asked Chancellor Mark Heinrich, who was hired in September, to come up with a uniform proposal for paying any interim chancellor or president in the 25-school system in the future.