Stored-up time off could cost taxpayers $93M

Associated Press

CINCINNATI

Hundreds of Cincinnati city workers have accumulated so much unused time off that it could cost taxpayers $93 million when the employees retire and get paid for the days, according to an analysis of city records by The Cincinnati Enquirer.

Some contract provisions allow workers to store up unused holiday, vacation and sick time and later cash in. More than 900 Cincinnati employees have at least six months of accumulated leave. That’s nearly one-fifth of the city’s workers. About 120 of them are slated to get at least a year’s extra salary when they retire, the newspaper reported Sunday.

One long-serving police lieutenant stored up nearly 10,600 hours of leave, amounting to five years of work worth more than $430,000. He’s among 10 police supervisors in line to retire with accumulated leave with a value of more than $200,000, which could be collected all at once or over time.

Critics say such payouts are tough to justify as the city has faced budget shortfalls of $50 million in the past two years.

City Councilman Jeff Berding, who wants the city to take a harder line in contract negotiations, calls the payouts “indefensible and offensive to taxpayers” and alleges.

“It violates every standard of economic common sense and shows complete disregard for the city,“ he said. ”People who just watched us struggle to try to cut $54 million from the budget have every right to look at this and be outraged.”

It’s likely the total cost of the accumulated time will be even more than $93 million because the time is cashed out at their final salary rates — in some cases, higher than what they were paid when they earned the time — and because the payments may increase some workers’ retirement benefits.

It’s common for public workers to cash in some accrued vacation or sick time, but Cincinnati’s policies are comparatively generous, said Steve Erie, a political science professor and director of urban studies at the University of California, San Diego.

“This is the golden parachute, public-sector style,” Erie said. “This is beyond generous — nobody gets that kind of package. You’d never get away with this in the private sector.”

City and union leaders say the issue isn’t whether employees who cash in accrued time are acting properly, but whether the city has the right system of dealing with accumulated time.

“It’s important to remember that our employees are doing nothing at all wrong,” city Councilman Wendell Young said. “The question, though, is whether we can afford to continue to do business the same way.”