VENTURA COUNTY : Early Retirements to Save $900,000

Ventura County will net more than $900,000 in savings over the next two years because of the early retirement of 47 county employees, officials said.

The county will pay nearly $1.7 million in early retirement benefits as one of the many cost-cutting measures aimed at reducing the county’s budget deficit, said Personnel Department Director Ronald W. Komers.

Total savings from the program will amount to more than $2.6 million, Komers said.

The Board of Supervisors approved the plan for 42 employees on March 3, and another five employees have taken the county up on the offer since, Komers said.

Generally, employees needed to have at least 20 years of experience and be older than 50 to take advantage of the offer, Komers said. Departments also had to show a net savings from the program to allow an employee to retire, he said.

Members of the Board of Supervisors expressed concern at a meeting earlier this week that the 47 retiring employees take a wealth of experience with them that will be hard to replace, and Komers did not dispute that.

“Whenever a senior person retires, they carry with them the expertise they have accumulated over the years,” Komers said.

Komers was uncertain whether the early retirement program would be offered again in the future. “That will depend on whether we continue to see the need for such a program and whether it is cost-effective,” he said.