DOWNTOWN TALLAHASSEE, FL — City records show over 170 city employees are taking the voluntary separation package. The program offers employees $20,000 or 12 weeks of base pay, whichever is greater, continuation of existing health insurance for the year, and payment of any accrued leave.
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The City says the program is a way to help manage the size of its workforce and balance the budget. The decision to offer separation incentives passed in a 3 to 2 vote by the City Commission last month.
Salaries of departing employees range from about $37,000 to upwards of $217,000. Staff are leaving from fields including Fleet Management Services, Fire, Parks and Rec., and Police. Police Chief Lawrence Revell said 21 of his employees are taking the package.
"There will certainly be an impact, you know, you can't lose that many years of experience, and it's bittersweet, because these are our friends, these are our colleagues that we worked with for, you know, 20-30 years, and so there will certainly be an impact," Revell said.
Revell confirmed that no response times or police operations will be impacted.
"We have great people that will step into acting roles in the meantime, and then we'll make promotions in the next, you know, couple months. We're not rushing into anything, we're going to be very methodical about it, but it is a great time with this opportunity to look at restructuring and what that might look like," Revell said.
The City sent us this statement:
Managing the size of the City’s workforce is an essential component of balancing the budget. Now, with the Governor and State Legislature evaluating property tax revenues, this workforce reduction of about 5 percent will positively impact personnel expenses, which account for a significant share of the City’s operating costs.
City Commissioner Jack Porter said she is seeking more information about the potential impacts of losing staff.
"Obviously, the cost saving is an important piece of this, but it's not the only important piece. We have a city to run, and we need employees to do it. And so it remains to be seen where we're going to experience the greatest impact, whether it's going to save the taxpayers money in the long run," Porter said.
Porter has asked City staff for more details about potential impacts and hopes the issue will come back to the commission at a future meeting. The next budget workshop is set for June 10th at 1:00 p.m.
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