Earlier in the year, Wicomico County Executive Richard M. Pollitt, Jr., announced a retirement incentive plan for vested county employees as part of the ongoing challenge of balancing the county budget with declining revenues. Mr. Pollitt instructed employees to research their individual options and to make a decision by May 16th. Of the 80 eligible employees, 44 chose to retire effective July 1, 2011. Mr. Pollitt stated, “The Public Information Act prohibits releasing information on individual employees. Accordingly, I cannot share specific names or positions at this time.”
Pollitt said that this action will result in potential savings of under $100,000 in Fiscal Year 2012. “As I advised the County Council when I announced this program, the real savings will be realized in fiscal years to come in the form of a smaller, restructured county government. Bear in mind that those eligible for this incentive are long-time employees and are entitled to compensation for accrued annual and sick leave, requiring a substantial payout of accruals.”
“This exercise is an opportunity to not only reward faithful county employees for their long and devoted service to the people of Wicomico County,” said Pollitt, “but is a further opportunity to restructure our government in a fashion that is more reflective of the challenging economic times in which we live yet still provide a decent level of county services for our community.”
NOTE TO PRESS RELEASE: Pollitt had a letter read to the county council during their work session with the Health Department. SbyNEWS has requested information from the County Executive’s office which will better allow our readers to understand the true impact of this program. Look for a post in the next couple of days.
10 comments:
ok, so for the other 36 eligible employees, force them to retire with LESS incentives! And I would also like to see the names of the retirees so that we can ensure that they will not be rehired! I bet that Creamer and Shea aren't on that list of retirees...even tho it will be their SECOND retirement eligibility! Run it like a business and this County will be a whole lot more efficient.
I know at least one person who retired and was in a critical position that leaves the county vulnerable. No one in department has the training to fill the loss and it seems not much thought was put into this.
Please someone run for office that has the ability to lead, that has the vision to see the what others can't and the knowledge to make our county government better than it is now.
I love how the guy demanding names posts his comment anonymously.
Mardela, I doubt that the wheels will fall off the bus. Not sure what position could be so "critical" that they cannot be replaced. Certainly there may be a transitional period, but life will go on.
Anon 1515 -
Ted Shea has already announced that he is retiring. Matt Creamer isn't, as far as I know.
The names will not be available until after July 1. Why do you think that we should publish the names anyway? That isn't the problem. The problem is why did we give an extra 5 years service, and consequently a higher pension, to people who had more than enough service to retire.
I work for the county and I think it is wrong for a person to retire from one department then get hired in another county department. or they are rehired as contractual. But the county does what they want anyway.
G.A., in all reality, the County Employees gave them 5 years. The employees fund their pension, and although the county does kick in some dollars, it is the employees whose fund may be put in jeopardy from the additional time. I know a count employee who has a mandatory contribution of $250 a month into the plan.
In my department we have people leaving with approx 6-8 years of service and others that have 30 plus years were not considered.The magic number is age 55. It does not matter if you have 30-35 years of service you were not considered. This means that a lot of departments are stuck with a lot bitter older employees. The plan is not worth the paper its written on.
For a very minimal savings, several county departments will be devasted. The Roads Division is losing its top two men, along with several others, with no one hired or trained to take their place. They will not be able to maintain the roads even if they had the money to do so. But personally, this may be all part of Pollitt's plan - let the county fall to pieces, when people complain, blame it all on the revenue cap, and get that "grass roots" movement he so often pleads for.
11:05, you obviously don't know what you are talking about. If you are eligible to retire under the county pension plan, which is 25 years service, OR 55 years of age, you are eligible for the incentive.
11:06, maybe there should have been training all along instead of crisis management. Unfortunately, the theory has always been to keep everyone in the dark. I am sure that there are people out there who can give it a go. Never know, might be suprised.
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