Politics & Government
Islip Employees Eye Option for Early Retirement
New statewide legislation may be adopted by Islip Town and will encourage eligible employees to retire early as a cost-saving measure.
Certain Islip Town employees may have the opportunity to retire early, pending the town's adoption of a Early Retirement Incentive.
Gov. David Patterson approved the statewide incentive in June as a means to achieve savings and condense the municipal workforce. According to Islip Town Director of Labor Relations and Personnel Rob Finnegan, the Town of Islip is exploring the option of implementing this incentive in an effort to cut costs by a "means of ending employment to lighten the workforce."
At a recent meeting, the town board passed a resolution stating that a public hearing and vote regarding the incentive are scheduled for Aug. 17 at 1 p.m. at Islip Town Hall.
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If this incentive were implemented, Islip employees who are nearing retirement age would be divided into two plans. Part A is a targeted incentive program that would identify positions that would be eliminated, by department. This option would provide town employees with an additional month of retirement service credit for each year of credited service. Eligible employees would have 10 years of credited service at age 55; those with seniority would be given the option first and could choose to opt-in to the plan.
"The town has to identify those titles they want to target for the incentive," said Finnegan, "It's not mandatory. Once we target the positions, the employee can elect to participate. The whole point of the plan is to induce employees to leave the workforce in order to reduce costs."
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Part B is a town-wide option that would allow employees the option to retire early without penalty. This would eliminate the penalty for those town employees who retire at age 55 with 25 years of service. Unlike Part A, this plan will not target specific titles.
This Early Retirement Incentive has been met with support from Town Supervisor Phil Nolan.
"Incentives are always mutually beneficial," said Supervisor Nolan, "This program will allow us to make our employment structure more efficient and give longtime town workers the benefits they deserve. It's smart for municipalities to take advantage of this opportunity from the state."
