Metro Government Plans to Offer Employee Buyouts

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Mayor Freddie O’Connell is planning to offer buyouts to incentivize eligible Metro employees to retire. 

His administration filed legislation with the Metro Council on Friday creating a $1,000-per-year-of-service retirement incentive program, similar to ones offered by the city in 2012 and 2004. The legislation will be considered for the first of three votes at the Metro Council's Nov. 17 meeting. 

Employees must apply for the incentive by Jan. 21 and, in most cases, work their last day at Metro by Feb. 26. 

Only more tenured employees — those eligible for normal and early pensions — will be eligible for the incentive. General Metro government employees are eligible for normal pension benefits at age 60 (if age plus years of service equals 85 points) or at age 65 with five years of service. Police and fire employees are eligible for normal pension benefits at age 53 (if age plus years of service equals 75 points). 

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Those eligible for early, reduced pensions are being offered $500-per-year retirement incentives. General government employees are eligible at age 50 with at least 10 years of service, while police and fire employees are eligible at age 45 with at least 10 years of service. 

It’s not clear exactly how many employees would be eligible. In 2012, approximately 2,600 employees were eligible. That year, employees were offered $700 per year of service and “a few hundred” accepted the offer. In 2004, approximately 440 eligible employees accepted the $500-per-year offer. 

“The legislation establishes a voluntary retirement incentive program for eligible employees,” says mayor’s office spokesperson Alex Apple. “Metro has offered a similar incentive in 2004 and 2012, and this program will help us achieve savings in the operating budget while also rewarding Metro employees who have dutifully served the city and are retirement eligible. The Mayor’s Office has worked with Human Resources and the Department of Finance to draft the legislation for council consideration.”

The move comes as Metro gears up for another budget cycle. Revenue projections for the coming budget year (which begins in July) are typically finalized in January.

Late last month, O’Connell told reporters that “we are still projecting for FY28 pretty flat revenues given what we know about macroeconomic conditions.”

He said next year “will feel maybe as tight as any budget we’ve had this term.”

This article first appeared on Nashville Banner and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.