Over 160 Take Voluntary County Separation Incentive
Looking at a tough budget coming in 2016, Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino offered County employees an incentive to retire during the late spring, intended to save Westchester millions of dollars.
The incentive was offered only to those employees who had worked a certain number of years and were reaching retirement age. Last week 162 employees agreed to take the offer and will be leaving their jobs by July 31.
Under the plan, departing employees receive $1,000 for every year of completed county service.
“This is a win for everybody,” said Astorino in a press statement. “Employees are rewarded for their years of service and taxpayers benefit from the savings generated from our ability to streamline the workforce. These savings will be applied to reducing the $56 million deficit the county is facing in 2016.”
The cost of the incentive is estimated to be $800,000, while the net savings is projected to be $2.97 million.
The departures will give departments the flexibility to align their staffs more efficiently. In addition, as jobs are refilled, the county can save substantial amounts of money because contract modifications and changes in state law make the cost of new hires less expensive, particularly in the areas of fringe benefits such as pension and health care costs.
The 162 employees represent 3.3 percent of the county’s budgeted workforce of 4,867. Worker compensation is the biggest expense in the county budget. The average compensation of current county workers is approximately $130,000 a year; $80,000 for salary and an additional $50,000 or 63 percent for benefits.
The county budget office is currently projecting a $56 million deficit for 2016. According to the executive’s office, part of the reason is that sales tax collections are weaker than expected, down 3.7 percent in the first quarter of 2015 compared to 2014.
Astorino has ruled out increasing the county property tax levy, which has been one of his primary election promises, saying that Westchester is the highest taxed county in the country and any tax that he controls will not go up on his watch.
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