All Rights Reserved E-mail Us City to look at retirement incentive again by Cliff Drought Employees in the City of Fulton may again get the opportunity to start their retirements a little bit early at a savings to the city. The New York State Retirement System s Early Retirement Incentive Program, designed to help municipalities around the state cut costs, will be considered by common council members Tuesday, Aug. 15. A public hearing on the program has been scheduled for 7 p.m. that evening. Through the program, eligible employees can opt for early retirement and local government can then decide to replace them with less experienced and most likely less expensive workers, or not replace the employee at all.
State law requires local governments to adopt a local law to take part in the program each year.
Last year, Fulton was involved in the program. According to Barbara Ouimet, the city s personnel director, three department of public works employees did opt for retirement. The city, she said, did save money, but she was unsure of exactly how much. To qualify for the retirement incentive, employees must be at least 50 years old with ten years of service, or 55 years old with five years of service to the municipality. Under state law, local governments are not required to eliminate the position of a retired worker if it can show a minimum of 50 percent in savings in the replacement employee s base salary over the first two years .