Toning Up Your Finances 
Those Facing Post-holiday Credit Card Blues Have Some Options For Getting Back
In Control.

Anna M. Bukeavich

By JENNIFER LEARN-ANDES jandes@leader.net
 Sunday, January 06, 2002 &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Page: 1A 





The latest figures show Luzerne County has more employees than it did
before it offered an early retirement incentive in 2001 designed to trim the
work force and save millions of dollars. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The numbers come from a list of all county jobs annually approved by the
Salary Board. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; In December 2000, before the incentive, the board approved 2,105 full-time
and 220 part-time jobs for 2001. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Last week the board approved the creation of 2,105 full-time and 249
part-time positions for 2002. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 And that number will increase to 2,109 full-timers because court officials
forgot to include four Orphan's Court employees. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 A total of 149 workers retired under the special incentive. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 ``It's unbelievable how you can have all these people retire and still end
up with more employees than before,'' said Mary Kamp, an active member of the
Luzerne County Public Forum and Wilkes-Barre Taxpayers Association. ``Somebody
ought to have a pretty good explanation.'' &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Majority Commissioners Tom Makowski and Tom Pizano did not return calls
seeking comment. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 ``The record shows the majority was not truthful when it said it was going
to reduce personnel and cut costs,'' said Minority Commissioner Stephen A.
Urban. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The annual Salary Board list is the only available apples-to-apples
measurement of the effect of the early retirement incentive because of the
fluid nature of hiring and job changes at the county. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 County officials often argued as they made hires that they were still
saving money because new workers started at entry-level salaries. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Commissioners also have pointed out that hirings at the prison were beyond
their control. The salary board added 15 new positions at the Luzerne County
Correctional Facility in 2002 because the number of guards mandated in the
prison union contract didn't keep pace with prison growth. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The county also added eight security workers in 2002 to man the county's
new security system. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Urban has complained repeatedly that majority commissioners overlook viable
cuts throughout the county. He says there are too many solicitors and managers
at the prison and in recreation. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The payroll has swelled consistently in recent years. In 1996, there were
about 1,909 full-time employees, county officials have said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Urban, who, with Makowski and Pizano is a member of the Salary Board, said
he hopes to have more success blocking necessary hires when Controller-elect
Steve Flood, the board's fourth member, takes office Monday. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The board creates all positions and sets salaries. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 ``There are plenty of areas in the county where there are still ghost
employees,'' Urban said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Just how much the county saved by offering the early retirement package
remains a mystery. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 In August 2000, county officials estimated they would save $4.8 million if
120 of 312 eligible employees retired early. However, commissioners budgeted
less than half of that savings, $2 million, in the 2001 budget. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Controller reports generally show how much revenue is received, but
officials did not plug in a figure under the ``incentive savings'' line item
although 2001 is over. Employees in the Controller's Office left the line
blank because they said they didn't receive a number from the administration. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Personnel/Budget Director Russ Arnone, who is responsible for calculating
that figure, did not return calls seeking comment on how much money was saved. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 County Chief Clerk Jim Torbik said in October that the county hadn't
calculated the exact savings because some departments were still reorganizing.
Torbik could not be reached for comment Friday. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The Salary Board listed the 2001 payroll for county workers as $63,496,882. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The total 2002 payroll is $63,337,379 million. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 However, the 2002 number will likely increase by at least $90,000 when the
four forgotten Orphan's Court employees are added. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Urban also pointed out that the Salary Board payroll does not factor in
raises for hundreds of union employees with contracts that expired in 2000 and
have not been renegotiated, including workers at Valley Crest Nursing Home,
Children and Youth, Bureau of Aging and some court-related support workers. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The incentive, which was funded by the county's Employee Retirement Trust
Fund, added another 30 percent onto the years-of-service factor used to
calculate pensions, increasing yearly pensions by hundreds of dollars or more. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 County officials must still hire people for some of the jobs created and
budgeted on Monday, including a $35,000 grant writer position, a $32,000 Voter
Services deputy, a $20,498 Assessor's Office draftsman and a $30,000 data
processing communications specialist. Job descriptions were not available. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Jennifer Learn-Andes, a Times Leader staff writer, can be reached at
831-7333. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

Public Jobs 
Touted Early-out Plan Bust For County 
More People Are Employed Now Than Before Early Retirements Began, And The
Monetary Saving Is Thousands, Not Millions.

Public Jobs Touted Early-out Plan Bust For County More People Are Employed Now Than Before Early Retirements Began, And The Monetary Saving Is Thousands, Not Millions.