E-mail Story
Print Friendly
Journal North: Home | Sports | Opinion | Obits | Entertainment
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Sick Leave May Cost City $1 Million
By Kiera Hay
Copyright © 2009 Albuquerque Journal
At the city of Santa Fe, health and wealth appear to be twin blessings.
A program that allows retiring city workers to leave their jobs but remain on the payroll using surplus sick leave will dole out more than $1 million in payouts over the current and upcoming fiscal years, according to numbers provided by the city.
Eight of the city's highest-ranking police and fire officials alone, who recently retired or have announced the intention to soon do so, are walking away with nearly $670,000 for unused sick leave.
One police captain, under another retirement provision, got a $170,938 payout for his sick leave.
Though there have been rumblings at City Hall about eliminating all or part of accelerated retirement, especially in light of the city's current economic troubles, defenders of the program say it's an important benefit that rewards workers for showing up day in and day out.
“I think it's an excellent program for the people who have been loyal employees and not abused sick leave,” retired Santa Fe Police Chief Eric Johnson said.
That especially applies to public safety officers, who he said take a physical and mental pounding while in the line of duty and deserve the break accelerated retirement provides.
Besides, Johnson added, “The reality is with employees these days, they don't save the time. It costs the city anyway because people are calling in sick the minute they get their time.”
Johnson left the city late last month but will remain on the books until the end of November — a cash value of $68,999, according to the city's human resources department.
At this time, Johnson is joined by these fellow retiring public safety officers: Charles Velarde, an assistant fire chief whose payments will total $112,560; Randy Neumann, an assistant fire chief receiving $78,833.89; police Capt. Gary Johnson, who'll get $66,686; Fire Chief Chris Rivera, with $65,533; police Capt. Gilbert C De Baca, who'll get $55,970; and assistant Fire Chief Ted Bolleter, with $49,605.
Other beneficiaries include city former finance director Kathryn Raveling, whose accelerated retirement has a value of $66,330. The totals include the city's share of Medicare.
But leading the pack is police Capt. Andy Leyba, who recently received a $170,938 cash payment for his sick leave.
Unlike most city workers, Leyba — a longtime city employee who retired in May — qualified for a one-time monetary payout.
The payout was made under a provision of the rules that allows nonunion workers with 23 years of public safety service at the city, or 27 years of other experience, the option of cashing in sick leave and receiving a lump sum. Under previous rules, workers who stayed with the city longer than 26.8 years — or 22.11 years for public safety workers — forfeited their sick leave.
A resolution creating the provision, sponsored by Councilor Matthew Ortiz, was passed by the City Council in 2008. To date, only one other employee, an assistant pool manager, has taken advantage of the cash-out.
City officials estimate its cost could be as high as $2.3 million over the next five fiscal years, ultimately benefiting about 28 individuals.
Separate from Ortiz's provision, the value of the sick leave used by 23 city employees to accelerate their retirement between July 1 of last year and the present is $392,054, according to the city's human resources department. Over the next fiscal year, which runs from July 1 to June 30, 2010, the payout could be as high $702,000 for 19 individuals, the department said.
Workers accrue sick leave based on their number of years at the city and, in some cases, level of job prominence. Sick days per year range from 32.5 for certain firefighters to nine days for first-year employees. Exempt employees hired and fired at the mayor's discretion earn 20 days a year. All sick leave carries over year to year.
Paying two chiefs
One financial concern to some is that many of the workers who use their sick leave for early retirement are in prominent jobs that require an immediate replacement.
So the city, in effect, ends up paying for two police chiefs or two fire chiefs for a period of time, as the retired chief continues to pull down his sick-leave payments. The “double-fill” cost has been estimated at $1.2 million between fiscal years 2008-09 and 2010-11.
When some city officials first began voicing concerns about the accelerated retirement program — Ortiz has been the loudest voice — it prompted anxiety from many city workers. The possibility of eliminating the Ortiz provision, in particular, worried employees who feared being forced to give up sick leave because they had stayed at the city beyond the 26.8 or 22.11 years.
Notably, that fear created an exodus by the fire department's top brass earlier this year.
“It puts me in the position where I have to retire and use sick leave or stay on and potentially lose that benefit,” Fire Chief Chris Rivera said.
Rivera acknowledged the program was expensive, but he said it provided advantages to all city workers.
“The other side of the benefit, if it's not there … why would (workers) want to save sick leave? Why not use it every chance you get, since at that point you get it one for one?” he said.
Human resources director Kristine Kuebli and her staff are working on proposing a new leave program whereby employees would participate in a general leave program that combines sick and vacation time.
Workers would be able to cash out their leave upon leaving the city, though caps would be put in place to prevent workers from amassing a huge amount of leave.
You also can send comments via our comment form
|
|
