A new review has found big savings in getting long-time, well-paid state employees to retire early, but the state auditor warns some state government agencies are withholding information. The State Auditor’s office reviewed "Early Out Incentive programs" that were offered to state government workers starting in November, 2001 through early 2006.
State Auditor Dave Vaudt estimates nearly 132-million dollars will be saved through 2009 because of the early retirement incentives. Just over one-thousand state workers opted to retire early during that five year period. Vaudt estimates the average savings to the state at nearly $130,000 each.
Vaudt notes that just over five dozen of the folks who took the incentive package and retired from state government wound up working again for state government, often times in the same capacity — and Vaudt warns that having those retired-but-back-again state workers remain on the state payroll for too long is a violation of the law which established the early retirement incentive packages in the first place.
Vaudt highlighted several instances of concern, such as a retired but rehired technician who earned about 43 dollars an hour on his return to state work. Vaudt says a handful of state agencies have failed to file updated paperwork on the early retirement record of their own agencies.