Town of Hamburg early retirement incentive program makes sense
By: DANIEL MEYER
WIN Columnist
A recent decision by the Hamburg Town Board to offer 10 employees early retirement incentives was a wise one and is the latest action by Hamburg Town Supervisor Steven Walters that deserves much praise.
Saving money by reducing the size of government makes sense, particularly during these challenging economic times as the state will likely face a major budget shortfall next year.
The board last Thursday (Aug. 26) morning approved the incentive, which will give an additional month of service credit for each year of service up to 36 months.
According to Walters, the town must demonstrate a 50 percent savings in the salaries over a two-year period, and Hamburg’s top elected official said he is ready to do more than that.
The i’s are still being dotted and the t’s are still being crossed, but Walters said last week the town is looking at somewhere between a 13 to 17-month payback for each position.
There is a cost to the town, namely the selling back of unused time and making mandatory payments required by the state retirement system.
Next up is the decision by the 10 employees on whether or not to turn in their retirement paperwork and take advantage of the incentives being offered. It’s a difficult choice to make for some but we remain hopeful the majority of the workers will accept the terms of this unique opportunity provided they are financially secure enough to call it a career.
As town officials in Hamburg continue to look for ways to find budget savings, the passage of the early retirement incentive program for town employees strikes us as a prudent step. Walters and the bean counters at Hamburg Town Hall deserve credit for offering the incentives.
We look forward to the passage of more proposals for savings in the Town of Hamburg as well as the other towns, villages and school districts that are located within The Sun’s circulation area.
Any efforts made by forward-thinking elected officials like Walters that are related to reshaping how local governments and school districts operate on a day-to-day basis are encouraged and will also be applauded.
• More changes in the Village of Hamburg’s central business district — It’s getting difficult to keep track of all the news related to new businesses opening up shop in “downtown Hamburg” and we think it is safe to say that is a good thing.
Despite an uncertain economy and plenty of doom-and-gloom stories related to locally owned and operated “mom-n-pop” businesses struggling to survive in this day and age, the opening of new businesses and the addition of “coming soon” signs in other storefronts has us feeling particularly optimistic about the future of Hamburg’s central business district, particularly along the Main/Buffalo streets thoroughfare.
Not to be forgotten are the fine folks along Lake Street in Hamburg. There are a number of longtime businesses still running successful operations and the recent addition of new businesses has helped to make that section of the village a destination for many local shoppers.
We encourage other aspiring entrepreneurs to continue exploring the possibility of opening their own business in Hamburg and help continue the growth of our revitalized village.
(E-mail your comments on this editorial to: meyerdan@thesunnews.net)
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