[N]otices are in the mail to hundreds of Vermont state employees who are eligible to accept a retirement incentive this fall.
The Vermont Treasurer’s Office sent letters to 949 state employees Friday to notify them that they qualify for a retirement incentive of up to $15,000.
The retirement incentive came out of a legislative scramble to find $113 million to fill a gap between projected state spending and revenue in the fiscal year 2016 budget.
This month, 13 state employees were laid off in order to meet the labor savings target in the budget.
All told, the retirement incentive is available for 300 employees — a number negotiated by the Agency of Administration and Treasurer’s Office in order to balance the need for labor savings with the long-term stability of the state’s pension plan.
If more than 300 employees apply for the retirement incentive, the Treasurer’s Office will use a lottery to decide which applicants will receive it.
Treasurer Beth Pearce said in a statement that she is pleased that the retirement incentive helped to solve the state’s budget difficulties this year.
“However, while the program does reduce labor costs in the short-term, to realize the full measure of the savings, the State must address long-term workforce issues,” Pearce said.
In order to achieve long-term savings, the state will fill about a quarter of the 300 jobs left vacant by people who take the retirement incentive.
Last month, the Agency of Administration announced that the state would eliminate 62 positions, most of which were vacant, to meet the labor savings target. Coupled with the elimination of vacancies from the retirement incentive, the state will end up eliminating about 300 positions — in line with Secretary of Administration’s initial estimate in March that the labor savings would require the elimination of between 150 and 325 jobs.
Eligible employees have until Aug. 31 to decide whether to apply, and their retirement will be effective Oct.1. The program allows some departments to defer certain retirements until March at the latest, if necessary to keep business operating as normal.
The incentive is only available to employees of the executive branch. People who have logged between five and 15 years with the state are eligible for $750 for each year they worked for the state, which increases to $1,000 per year for people with more than 15 years of experience.
A full list of eligibility requirements is posted on the State Treasurer’s Office website.
