County mulls separations

By DAVID MARTIN

Publisher

The Sweetwater County commissioners are looking at another voluntary separation program to possibly head off future layoffs.

The commissioners discussed the program Tuesday. According to Garry McLean, director of human resources for the county, the program had been offered eight times in the last decade.

The program allows for employees close to retirement age to take an early retirement buyout. The goal is to either redistribute the responsibilities associated with a position to others within a department or to retire a higher-paid position and replace it with a lower-paid, less experienced worker, thus saving the county money it spends in wages.

“We reduced the number of county employees by around 44 positions, with savings in excess of $15 million,” McLean said to the commissioners.

He said he brings the issue to the commissioners to gauge if they want to follow through with establishing the program. He said in the past, employees have been paid $30,000 in cash or health insurance to take part in the program. McLean said the program originated with employees who wanted to retire, but were unable to afford it. He also said he spoke with 20 employees in the past few months about a program.

McLean also said he’s identified positions the county would be able to eliminate without backfilling the roles.

Commissioner Wally Johnson, who had been involved in previous versions of the program, said it works extremely well.

Johnson also said positions that were left vacant for a year before being refilled also result in savings for the county, saying previous commissions have had great success in saving taxpayer funds.

Typically, the county has offered a $30,000 payment to those who take advantage of the program, but both Johnson and McLean said that number isn’t something the commissioners would have to stick to. McLean said he is looking at $40,000-$42,000 for the payment.

However, McLean also said if positions are reduced at too great of a level, departments may not be able to function at the level residents expect from them.

The commissioners instructed McLean to move forward with planning the program, at a $42,000 payout amount.