Champaign City Council Unanimously Approves Buyout Plan

Champaign's city council has unanimously approved a voluntary separation program for employees.

The city will take applications beginning March 1st, and accept them throughout the month. Champaign Human Resource Director Chris Bezruki said the idea is reducing the need for layoffs, and cuts to areas like police and fire. He said there's been informal interest from about 15 workers who want to see how the program would impact their retirement. The city expects 20 employees at the most would be granted the incentive, but Bezruki said sorting out who those people are will take a while.

"There will be several positions that we've already looked at, and said that these positions probably should go," he said. "Then there will be those other positions that are trying to be backfillled by others, and then there will be some other positions that, if we have to do this next year, maybe these are the positions that we should accept."

Bezruki said the process should be completed by December. The incentive is two weeks of pay for every year of service, up to a maximum of $45,000. Employees whose applications are accepted may not be rehired for two years.

Meanwhile, a Champaign public works employee, Steve Beckman, suggests the city explore a different cost-saving option. After logging more than $4,000 in overtime removing ice and snow, he suggests giving his staff comp time would save more money than the six furlough days that public works expect to be required of them in the next year. Beckman said the savings from comp time would be greater than what the city would gain from the six furlough days he expects the city to impose on public works. Beckman also said that his union's contract won't grant them.

"We don't believe that the contract allows for it, so we have to grieve that," Beckman said. "And then there's a chance that we go arbitration, you'd have to pay us for it anyway, and we don't want to do that. So if we could open up the comp situation for even one year in a year like this and save money on it, why not do it?"

Beckman said a couple of his co-workers are seeking the buyout, and they should be allowed to pursue it. But he said there are some stipulations put on the AFSCME union that lets the workers re-organize their contract, and Beckman said they're not willing to do that. The Champaign City Council Tuesday night also unanimously backed a budget revision for up to $356,000 in snow removal costs.