Albany City Commission approves first step of incentive plan

ALBANY — As many as 140 city of Albany employees could be eligible for voluntary early retirement incentive packages that are expected to be offered by the city in early 2015 as a way to reduce the city’s work force.

Albany city commissioners approved a plan at their business meeting Tuesday evening that gives the city manager authority to offer the ad hoc incentives to workers among the city’s 900-plus employees who are eligible for early retirement. Interim City Manager Tom Berry told the board at a previous work session that if cuts aren’t made to the city’s $100 million-plus budget by 2018 when Municipal Electric Authority of Georgia credits stop coming in, “there will be hell to pay.”

Berry warned the commission that if the staffing cuts aren’t in place prior to the end of the MEAG funding, “you will have to make arbitrary cuts across the board in every department.”

Ward II Commissioner Bobby Coleman, who had expressed reservations about giving the city manager “unchecked power” over determining employees’ future with the city, said he favored the measure after Berry explained that the plan is to offer up to six months salary as a severance package. Berry said the incentives would be the same throughout the organization, no matter the level of the employee.

“If we’re offering the same package across the board, I’m in favor of that,” Coleman said.

Berry reiterated Wednesday morning that there would be no “executive level package” for employees who were granted the early retirement opportunity. He noted, though, that the vote by the commission is only the first step in a process that is nowhere close to complete.

“We had to have a process in place before we could move forward (with plans to offer early retirement incentives),” Berry said. “Now we’ll get letters out to eligible employees — hopefully before Christmas, but that may be too optimistic — outlining the incentive package. When we get an idea what employees are interested, we’ll take a look at the impacted positions and see which we can eliminate and which we’ll need to fill with younger employees at potentially lower salaries.

“We have a whole lot of work left to do on this, but we’ve taken the first step. I think it’s vital that this process be in place by the time the next person comes in to this position.”

Ward I Commissioner Jon Howard expressed concern that making the incentive offer to “vital eligible employees” could lead to an exit that would leave the city with “a bunch of new kids on the block” at crucial positions.

Mayor Dorothy Hubbard noted that those employees “are eligible to walk away at anytime anyway.”

Berry said he’s not concerned that any kind of “mass exodus” would cripple the city.

“I don’t think an organization like ours should let any employee hold them hostage,” he said. “That’s where the city of Albany is fortunate. I don’t think even this group is aware of the valuable human resources assets you have in the organization. We have a group of about 30 young employees who are training to move up in the organization.”

Berry said that once the early retirement issue is settled, reorganization of the city could lead to other job cuts.

“With reorganization, there may be other positions that need to go,” he said. “That’s where we would make involuntary cuts. I think we would use these incentives for those cuts as well.”

Berry noted Wednesday morning after the Albany-Dougherty Economic Development Commission meeting that even with paying early retiring employees six months’ salary, the city would save up to 40 percent of those salaries in benefit reductions.

“Plus, those salaries are already in our budget,” he said. “We don’t have to ‘find’ money for the early retirement incentive packages.”

Also at Tuesday’s evening meeting, the commission moved forward a proposed city charter change that would eliminate the Water, Gas & Light Commission in favor of an appointed Albany Utility Board. The change would also allow the utilities authority to extend water, gas, electric and other utility services beyond the corporate limits of the city of Albany and beyond the jurisdictional limits of Dougherty County.

The board voted 6-1 to approve the charter change with Howard voting against the matter. It must be approved again at the commission’s January night meeting to go into effect.

Commissioners also approved 5-1 an alcohol license application for Blue Dog Station at 1502 E. Broad Ave. and named Bishop Frederick Williams to serve on the joint city/county Board of Registration and Elections.