Smithtown officials expect revenue to decrease by nearly $3 million...

Smithtown officials expect revenue to decrease by nearly $3 million because of the pandemic. Credit: Raychel Brightman

Smithtown is offering buyouts to 95 senior blue collar workers in a bid to trim town payroll and benefits costs. 

Approved by the town council in a unanimous vote May 5, the program offers CSEA union workers with at least 20 years on the job $500 for each year of employment, in addition to the compensation for accrued time off to which all retiring town employees are entitled. CSEA is the largest union representing Smithtown workers, with about 425 members. 

Town officials drafted program details last year and had planned to roll it out in late summer but moved it earlier and set a June 30 sign-up deadline after the comptroller's office estimated COVID-19 would cut municipal revenue by $2.8 million to $2.9 million for the year, town Supervisor Edward Wehrheim said. Town Comptroller Donald Musgnug in March predicted a range of municipal revenue would drop at least through the summer, accompanied by new or increased costs, such as cleaning. 

Wehrheim said he hoped to leave any vacated positions open until the end of the year, then make new hires in 2021. New employees would be paid less and contribute more to their health insurance and retirement plans.

Workers eligible for the buyout are paid anywhere from about $70,000 to $100,000 annually and the town's savings could reach hundreds of thousands of dollars in coming years, Musgnug said, calling it a "win-win" for taxpayers and workers.

If the nine most senior employees took the buyout, for instance, the town would pay out $250,000 in the first year, but would make up its cash outlay entirely by the second year, he said.  

Jerry Laricchiuta, president of the CSEA's Long Island region, predicted that at least a dozen Smithtown workers would take the deal. “I think it’s fair,” he said. “You’re still getting services out to your residents and you’ve just cut payroll tremendously.”

Brookhaven announced buyouts for its unionized workforce last month, and Laricchiuta said he expected others would, too. Often, though, a reduction in workforce means an increase in workload for remaining workers, he said, as well as a depletion of institutional knowledge. “We’ve all been doing more with less. That’s what we’re all doing in this country,” he said. 

A Smithtown buyout program last year for department heads and supervisors offered $2,000 for each year of service and had three takers — the heads of public safety, environment and waterways and the personnel departments — who were among the best paid employees in the town, with base pay of about $150,000 or higher. That program needed to offer a higher incentive for employees to walk away from their regular compensation, Musgnug said.

In addition to the buyouts, town hall leaders and department heads are trying to reduce spending on office equipment and supplies, Wehrheim said.

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