The D.C. government could save roughly $20 million over the next four years if it purges more than 5,100 longtime employees from the payroll as Mayor Adrian Fenty has proposed, according to a fiscal impact statement.
The D.C. Council, however, is putting the brakes on Fenty’s early retirement incentive plan — for now. The mayor, who rolled out his program Monday with a news conference and news release, has again spurred the ire of the council by promoting an initiative that has not yet won legislative approval.
“This council has to do this by statute,” said Councilwoman Carol Schwartz, who chairs the government operations committee and will have oversight of the legislation. “We may not want to have agencies offer this, and up to $25,000, when they’re going to have to take this money out of their own budget, and therefore may be disruptive of vital services that we may care about.”
The Early Out/Easy Out promotion would provide eligible retirees in the D.C. government up to $25,000 to leave their jobs before December 2008. Workers nearing retirement age could take up to $20,000, based on a sliding scale.
The program could affect 5,127 workers, Fenty said Monday, and would be funded by the various departments through “lapsed savings” derived from the vacated positions.
The goal, the mayor said, is to allow older workers to leave “comfortably,” while providing opportunities to “our next generation of leaders.”
In his fiscal impact report, Chief Financial Officer Natwar Gandhi estimated Early Out/Easy Out could save the District government $3.2 million in 2008, $6.4 million in 2009, $6.5 million in 2010 and $6.7 million in 2011. That is, assuming Fenty hires new employees at lesser salaries, or leaves the positions permanently vacant.
Fenty has a history of unveiling major initiatives to the media before the legislative branch, like the hiring of schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee and the closing of 23 schools. Though it has grown increasingly frustrated, the council has capitulated every time.
With regard to the early retirement plan, Council Chairman Vincent Gray issued a “reminder” Tuesday “that this is just the beginning of the process that requires a legislative act of the Council to go forward.”
