By Nick Mattera
Niagara Gazette
LEWISTON —
An early retirement incentive for public employees is being challenged by a statewide union and is leaving a number of potential retirees in limbo as they begin their summer vacation.
The 55/25 legislation, which was approved by the State Legislature and signed off by the Governor in June allows for teachers — or statewide public employees — with 25 years of credited service and be at least 55 years old to retire without any penalty to the state pension system. The previous statue required employees to be at least 62 years old and have 30 years of credited service.
In May, the Empire State Administrators Association challenged the decision in State Supreme Court, arguing its members should be offered a similar incentive. The State Supreme Court denied the request by the ESAA to block the incentive, but the matter has now been referred to the New York State Court of Appeals.
Lewiston-Porter Teachers Union president Kevin Jaruszewski said if the incentive is blocked it could cause a huge budgetary mess for the Lew-Port District. Lew-Port bridged a $1.8 million state aid shortfall partially through the elimination of nine teaching positions — which will not be filled — resulting in a savings of nearly $700,000.
“We could be looking at a huge mess here,” Jaruszewski said. “I couldn’t imagine the problems this would cause not just for the district’s budget, but the effect this could have on some of these employees lives.”
The legislation is projected to save an estimated $320 million statewide by the end of the 2011-2012 fiscal year.
Lew-Port Superintendent R. Christopher Roser said the legal challenge is nothing more than sour grapes by the administrators union and believes the incentive will be upheld.
“I trust that nothing unusual is going to happen and the legislation will prevail,” Roser said. “I don’t get alarmed with that stuff, all of this was done in good faith to save taxpayers across the state. The system will work out the differences.”
Jaruszewski said he would like to see the issue get resolved to ease the minds of the retired teachers who have gone home for the summer.
“They would be crazy to overturn this, the impact would be catastrophic,” Jaruszewski said. “Right now it’s just a waiting game and that’s unfortunate for those former teachers who are looking to start the next chapter in their life.”
For school districts, the official opt-in date was July 1, which has since past leaving employees tied into their decisions. Both Roser and Jaruszewski remained confident the legislation would be upheld in court.
In Niagara Falls, 53 employees have indicated their intentions of retiring including 28 teachers. If the retirement incentive were blocked by the courts the impact on the Niagara Falls District could be more than $1 million.
