[S]ome 272 state employees are on track to retire under an incentive program designed to reduce the state’s labor costs, Treasurer Beth Pearce told lawmakers Tuesday.
As part of the budget for fiscal year 2016, the Legislature approved a retirement incentive for up to 300 employees of the executive branch of state government. Under the plan, departments would fill only a quarter of the positions left vacant by retiring state workers.
The proposal was expected to save the state approximately $2.5 million in labor costs in the current budget.
As of the end of last month, 311 state employees expressed interest in taking advantage of the incentive, prompting Pearce to pen a letter to lawmakers asking them to approve an increased number of retirees.
But since that time, 39 people have withdrawn their applications to retire, and it is possible that more will withdraw. The retirements will not be finalized until the end of this month.
Some members of the Joint Fiscal Committee raised questions about how the retirements and the positions that are subsequently held vacant will impact different departments of state government.
According to a tally by the Treasurer’s Office through Monday, the largest number of retirees will come from Agency of Transportation, with 50 people planning to take the incentive.
The Department for Children and Families will lose the second-largest number of people, with 27 on track to retire.
Sen. Dick Sears, D-Bennington, who chairs the Justice Oversight Committee, raised concerns about how the retirements will impact the family services division of DCF, which is already experiencing a shortage of social workers.
DCF Commissioner Ken Schatz told lawmakers this month that social workers have an average caseload of 17.7 per worker — a new high.
“To further exacerbate that would be unfortunate,” Sears said during the hearing.
Outgoing Finance and Management Commissioner Jim Reardon said the Agency of Administration will go through the list “position by position” to evaluate how state government functions will be impacted if a job is not filled.
If all 272 employees go through with retirement, 25 percent of the total, or 68 positions, will be refilled, Reardon said. The Shumlin administration will be strategic about filling the positions, he said.
It will not be clear whether the state will meet the savings target of $2.5 million until after the list of retirees is finalized in early October, Reardon said.
