Lockport NY

The LUSJ reported that Mayor Tucker is looking into the long term benefits of buying into the state's early retirement program for municipal employees:

The Tucker administration is giving serious consideration to the state’s offer of early retirement incentives that could see up to 17 veteran employees leave the Lockport city payroll.


The incentives, if they’re affordable, could help the city “save money in the long run,” Mayor Michael Tucker said Tuesday....

...The pension fund would charge the city 68 percent of a Tier 1 employee’s salary, and 48 percent of a Tier 2 employee’s salary, to finance their early retirements, Mullaney said. As these longest-serving employees often also are among the city’s highest paid, this is what drives its early retirement tab...

...“A lot of municipalities are opting out because of the upfront cost, I guess, but I’m looking at it as a long-term opportunity to save, downsize, do things differently,” he said. “I’m not saying we will do it, but we are definitely looking hard at it.”

It could be a huge long term benefit to get these salaries off of the books, especially if job descriptions can be changed to reduce the number of city employees. It's worth looking into.