The Rotterdam Town Board will be holding a "special" meeting this Thursday night, 8/19, at 7 pm. The meeting was originally scheduled for next Wednesday, 8/25...although I'm not sure any real notice was ever issued for the first one, let alone the sudden rush to move up the date.
Maybe it's because of the reason for the meeting, which is an attempt to pass a resolution that was already killed at the last agenda meeting...it never even made it to the agenda for the Town Meeting.
The resolution concerns a retirement incentive package for town employees...one member of the the Town Board wants to pay out a lump sum of just under $200,000 to buy out select employees...claiming that the buyout would produce savings for the Town.
Council Member DiLeva met with Comptroller Pat Aragosa to review the proposal and to determine if it would in fact save the Town money. It was determined that it would not produce the cost saving effects claimed. Worse, these positions would all but certainly be filled again in the near future, at higher costs for salaries, benefits, etc. In short, we would be paying out the lump sum up front, as opposed to just paying those employees week by week to continue working until their planned retirements, only to turn around and fill those same positions again.
It was on this basis that Ms. DiLeva moved to strike the resolution from the meeting agenda, supported by Parisi and Martin...and ultimately it was removed from the agenda.
Bob Godlewski appears to be leading this scheme to quietly reintroduce the resolution in a desperate attempt to revive a measure already killed in the name of fiscal sanity...and Godlewski will claim it must be done in the name of urgency, reminding us of the end of August deadline to "take advantage" of this "opportunity"...never mind that it is really just a sweet deal for the chosen few who would cash in on this "opportunity".
Everyone should be at this meeting to support the fiscal responsibility, common sense and loyalty to taxpayers being displayed by DiLeva et al in resisting this scam.
ROTTERDAM Board to vote on retirement incentive idea Five could exit, but savings to town disputed BY JUSTIN MASON Gazette Reporter Reach Gazette reporter Justin Mason at 395-3113 or jmason@dailygazette.net.
Lucrative retirement packages could be in store for five town employees if members of the Town Board approve an incentive program this week. Board members will vote on the incentive known as Part A during a special meeting this evening. But town Comptroller Pat Aragosa has already advised them against offering the incentive, which he said will likely cost the town in the end. “I think it’s better than 50-50 that it won’t [save money],” he said Wednesday. Under the proposal, board members would have the ability to offer one additional month of service credit for each year of town employment for up to three years of additional retirement credit. The incentive is eligible to workers over the age of 55 who have worked for the town for at least 25 years and intended to target positions, not specifi c employees. If a worker taking the incentive is replaced, the town must demonstrate a savings of at least 50 percent over two years. Workers are not obligated to take the incentive. In Rotterdam, all town jobs can be targeted by the program, with the exception of police offi cers and administrators. However, police dispatchers and town paramedics with the requisite service and age are eligible. Aragosa said the payout for the town would be about $191,000 if all five employees take the incentive and the cost is financed over fi ve years. The workers could also cash in vacation time payments, which would total about $85,000 if all fi ve were to retire. In addition, Aragosa said the town would still cover health care benefits for the workers. This means the town would be on the hook to pay benefits for both the retiree and the replacement, were the jobs ever fi lled. In his 13 years working with the town, Aragosa said he’s never seen the retirement incentive benefi t the town. He said the incentive has been offered twice during his tenure, and each time the town ultimately hired new workers to fi ll the vacated positions. “It doesn’t make sense to pay a premium to get the person out of a position only to realize you have to fill it anyway,” he said. Discussion over the program spurred a heated debate at the board’s agenda meeting last week. Board members Gerard Parisi and Nicola DiLeva both expressed deep skepticism over the incentive’s fi scal impact. The item was ultimately scrapped from the agenda for last week’s meeting. But the town must act on the incentive before September and doesn’t have another business meeting this month, which spurred them to call a special session today. Neither Del Gallo or Aragosa would identify the eligible employees or the positions that are being targeted. Del Gallo said he supports the program and believes it will help the town save money in the end. He said the idea is to reduce the town work force in areas where positions aren’t needed any longer. .......................>>>>.....................>>>>..........................http://www.dailygazette.net/De.....r01401&AppName=1
Maybe the doctor pulled the puppeters hand out of del gallo's a$$ while he was working on heart.
Wait. Wait
Del Gallo has no heart. - for the taxpayers of this town
Extra special secratery Malpe pine meadows deal Deputy clerk handout Spot zoning Dispatch givaway Ballfield deal Artilce 78 Now this
I really hope the dem seniors are liking this. - thay can all stand in line waiting for their handout and the sign will read "closed for the season - reason freezin"
Next years campaign signs will read
Bend over baby Del Gallo Supervisor
With MM's info now we know why some want to merge the clerk and rec of taxes office
The deal must be very good because someone wouldn't take it the last it was offered
I' put Lynn F up against Dawn P "I am to lazzzzzzyto print tax bills." - anyday
Talking to each other is better than talking about each other
Hey don't be too hard on the supervisor......after all, he is just being told what he is told to do! Why do you think he was recruited? Why else would they recruit a senior citizen with all of the ailment he has? They should be ashamed!
When the INSANE are running the ASYLUM In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. -- Friedrich Nietzsche
“How fortunate for those in power that people never think.” Adolph Hitler
because the so called 'savings' would have been used at election/voting time to promote a ride to the hospital.....WE DONT NEED TO PAY TOWN EMPLOYEES TO GIVE RIDES TO HOSPITALS BLS OR ALS....
KEEP IT PRIVATE COMPANY......the standards are the same and everyone's experience during a call is SUBJECTIVE...........
...you are a product of your environment, your environment is a product of your priorities, your priorities are a product of you......
The replacement of morality and conscience with law produces a deadly paradox.
STOP BEING GOOD DEMOCRATS---STOP BEING GOOD REPUBLICANS--START BEING GOOD AMERICANS
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