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162 Westchester County Employees Take Buyouts

WESTCHESTER COUNTY, N.Y. -- A total of 162 Westchester County employees accepted a buyout package to leave their jobs by July 31, an effort that will save the county approximately $3 million next year, according to a statement by Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino.

Rob Astorino announced 162 county employees will take an early buyout package.

Rob Astorino announced 162 county employees will take an early buyout package.

Photo Credit: File

Under the plan, departing employees receive $1,000 for every year of completed county service.

“This is a win for everybody,” Astorino said in a statement. “Employees are rewarded for their years of service and taxpayers benefit from the savings generated from our ability to streamline the workforce. These savings will be applied to reducing the $56 million deficit the county is facing in 2016.”

The cost of the incentive is estimated to be $800,000, while the net savings is projected to be $2.97 million, an almost fourfold return on investment.

The departures will give departments the flexibility to align their staffs more efficiently. In addition, as jobs are refilled, the county can save substantial amounts of money because contract modifications and changes in state law make the cost of new hires less expensive, particularly in the areas of fringe benefits such as pension and health care costs.

The 162 employees represent 3.3 percent of the county’s budgeted workforce of 4,867.

Worker compensation is the biggest expense in the county budget, with the average county worker costing approximately $130,000 a year; $80,000 for salary and an additional $50,000 or 63 percent for benefits.

The county budget office is currently projecting a $56 million deficit for 2016. Part of the reason is that sales tax collections are weaker than expected, down 3.7 percent in the first quarter of 2015 compared to 2014.

Astorino has ruled out increasing the county property tax levy as some have urged him to do, saying that Westchester is the highest taxed county in the country and any tax that he controls will not go up on his watch.

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