Mayor Michael Tucker is asking the Common Council to decide by Monday whether the city is in or out of the state’s early retirement plan for municipal employees.
Its decision, due to the state by Aug. 31, will have a dramatic impact on upcoming 2011 budget setting, he said Tuesday.
“The Council has to understand, if we don’t do this early retirement thing, there’s gonna be some blood shed here. There will be layoffs. There still could be” even if some employees leave the workforce voluntarily this year, Tucker said.
The Council is meeting with organizational expert Rich Rising tonight, in closed session, to hear Rising’s ideas for managing city operations with fewer people.
If the Council supports early retirement incentives for up to 17 eligible city employees, by the rules of the program it won’t be able replace most of them.
Tucker said he’ll recommend the Council approve the city’s participation in “plan A,” one of two early retirement incentive plans approved by the state for municipal workers except police and firefighters. Plan A assigns eligible employees one month of service credit per year worked for the municipality; for example, an employee who has worked 25 years can get 25 months extra time tacked onto his service record for leaving the workforce now.
There’s a catch with Plan A, however: Particular job titles have to be marked for elimination and/or the city has to show 50 percent payroll savings in two years from retiring veteran employees. Supposing six account clerks retired and their combined annual salaries equal $240,000, the city could only spend $120,000 on replacements. It wouldn’t get six for that amount.
It could cost the city upwards of $200,000 to participate in Plan A, Tucker said. Less than $60,000 would be owed to the state pension fund; the rest would be payouts to retiring employees for their unused sick and vacation time, he said. One targeted employee is said to have about 350 sick days banked over the course of his career.
Cutting all 17 eligible employees from the payroll would save about $600,000 next year, according to Tucker. Supposing they all agreed to retire, “most” of them would not be replaced, he said.
Heading into the 2011 budget process, administration is looking for cost savings wherever it can be found. Among the issues it faces is diminished fund balance. Last year the Council OK’d use of $1.5 million in fund balance to offset the 2010 tax levy, and the tactic can’t be taken again this year, Council President Richelle Pasceri has said.
One cost-cutting opportunity might be in refuse collection. The local AFSCME unit representing streets, parks, water and sewer workers agreed last year to let collection duties go to the private sector, and up to 10 of its members’ jobs be cut by attrition, and Tucker and Pasceri are looking at that happening sometime next year. A number of AFSCME-represented employees are among those eligible for early retirement, and the recycling committee is pricing out two versions of “variable cart” trash and recycling collection, private and public, now.
The 2011 budget will be at least a month “late,” Tucker predicted. The city charter calls for the Council to adopt a budget by early October, but with September around the corner and so many question marks still in the line items — including numbers of employees in each department — on-time adoption is an impractical goal, he said.
Local News
Mayor urging Council to support early retirement plan
- Local News
-
- Sense of resignation escorts AES tax pact
- Town considering WNYLC's request
-
Palace, Hartland get Greenway funding
The Historic Palace Theatre and the Town of Hartland both were cleared Tuesday to receive Niagara River Greenway funding for improvement projects.
The eight-member Host Communities Standing Committee voted unanimously to approve funding requests of $151,000 for the Palace and $244,000 for Hartland, which is planning a multi-phase town park enhancement project.
-
Erie Canal photo contest underway
The seventh annual Erie Canalway photo contest is under way.
Entries are being accepted now through Sept. 7. Winning photos will be published in the 2013 Erie Canalway calendar.
-
Jobless totals drop slightly
Unemployment in the Lockport area decreased slightly last month, but it wasn't because more people are going back to work.
The New York State Department of Labor reported Tuesday about 1,000 city residents were without a job in April, the fifth straight month with over 1,000 unemployed. That was down from the 1,100 it reported in March, however, the number of employed stayed the same at about 9,700 people.
-
Fishing for 'Ultimate' perks
Olcott teaming up with Ontario town in running for Canadian equivalent.
-
Sprinkler work coming
Piping in high school fire sprinkler system will be addressed in July.
-
Willow Street victim identified
The victim of a self-inflicted gunshot wound on Willow Street on Saturday was identified by Lockport Police as Richard Boye, 46.
-
Cutting the travel time
For the most part, there is a lot of planning that goes into traveling. Some like to handle the details on their own, making arrangements on the phone or using travel websites to book hotels, planes, vehicles and so on.
But lately, working with a travel agent is becoming more popular.
-
Marine veteran will be grand marshal for Memorial Day Parade
Stan Moreland, who has served as marshal for the Memorial Day Parade since 1994, will be honored as grand marshal for the 2012 holiday on Sunday. The parade will start at the Veterans Memorial at 1 p.m. and by the time it reaches the court house, the Marine Veteran will be in a convertible.
Moreland, a 62-year-old Lockport native enlisted in the Marines at 17 after dropping out of school. He was served three years and while in the service, he was a welder and stationed in Japan.
- More Local News Headlines
Vatican in Chaos After Butler Arrested for Leaks
Jimmy Carter Endorses Egypt's Election Results
Biden Addresses West Point Graduating Class
Dozens of Children Killed in New Syria Attack
Raw Video: Activists Allege Massacre in Syria
NJ Man Charged With Murder in Death of Patz
Support, Fun for Kids of Fallen Soldiers at Camp
Fugitive Penguin Caught, Returned to Aquarium
50 Years Later, Underground Fire Still Burning
Light Show Transforms Sydney Opera House
Raw Video: Unruly Passenger Restrained in Miami
Raw Video: Robber Uses Drive-thru Window
Raw Video: Dragon Arrives at Space Station
Calif.'s Coronado Named Nation's Best Beach
CEO Salaries Become Sore Issue in Labor Disputes
