Nassau retirements expected to save millions

More than 60 civilian employees in Nassau have accepted a voluntary retirement package, saving the county an expected $6 million annually, county officials said.

The incentive, which pays employees $1,000 for every year of service with the county, expired Friday. In total, 61 employees accepted the offer, meant to encourage higher-paid workers to voluntarily leave the workforce. The retirees have until July 27 to change their minds.

"The Office of Management and Budget is calculating the millions in savings associated with this program," County Executive Edward Mangano said. "These savings are helpful in keeping Nassau County's fiscal recovery on track."

The retirees come from across the county workforce. They include 20 civilian police department employees, 10 employees from the Department of Public Works, six from social services, five from the district attorney's office, and four from the probation department.

The retirements come as Mangano continues to downsize the county's workforce. Mangano, who is facing a multimillion-dollar deficit, is expected to announce further staff reductions on Monday as he unveils a plan to cut $45 million from the budget.

Since June 2011, there have been about 400 layoffs of Civil Service Employees Association members; another 300 retired with incentives. Also, nearly 100 police officers, including 35 supervisors, accepted a retirement incentive in March.

"The county workforce has been cut to the bone," said CSEA president Jerry Laricchiuta, who backed the retirement incentive that closed Friday. "There is no room to lose even one more body."

Last month, Mangano, a Republican, directed department heads to draw up layoff lists to reduce their workforce budget by 3.5 percent. The move came after Democrats in the county legislature rejected nearly $41 million in borrowing to pay for property tax settlements. Minority Democrats have said they will not support new borrowing for tax refunds without a new legislative redistricting plan that is "fairer" than the one Republicans have proposed.

The county will borrow to pay for the CSEA incentive. The Nassau Interim Finance Authority, a state oversight board in control of the county's finances, supports the borrowing for the retirement incentive.