County seeks incentives to retire early

By Brandon Shulleeta

Published: January 8, 2009

Albemarle County is considering an initiative to save the county money by encouraging employees to retire early.

“The concept behind it is a senior person is at the top of his salary scale,” Supervisor Kenneth C. Boyd said. “And that person might retire and we can bring in a person at the median [scale] and save money on that.”

The measure would expand the county’s Voluntary Early Retirement Incentive Program for eligible employees who agree to retire this year. The county already provides incentives for employees to retire early, but the new one-time initiative would expand those incentives, including one that picks up medical coverage — until Medicare takes over — for those who meet retirement eligibility standards but aren’t 65.

The Board of Supervisors supported the initiative at a meeting Wednesday, but it also needs the support of the School Board at its meeting today. Officials say the new program also could help them reach a goal of having 47 vacant or eliminated positions by fiscal 2010.

Supervisors also unanimously agreed that the Meadowcreek Parkway should be named after former U.S. Sen. John W. Warner. For the name to stick, however, Charlottesville’s City Council would have to agree, as the city owns part of the 2-mile parkway.

The board considered naming the parkway after the five-term senator while he was still in the Senate, Boyd said, but Warner said that it wasn’t appropriate for a sitting senator to have a parkway named after him.

Forrest Marshall, a friend and former aide of Warner who’s been pushing for the parkway naming, said that the former senator told him this week that naming a parkway after him would be “unnecessary.”

“That’s the Virginia gentleman in him,” said Marshall, who chaired the Albemarle Board of Supervisors in the late ’90s.

Warner was respected by Democrats and Republicans and did a lot to help the region, Marshall said.

The board also supported amendments to its economic development policy to express a high priority for workforce development, increased light-industrial land availability and agricultural vitality.

County spokeswoman Lee Catlin said that though the amendments didn’t create major policy changes, they were added to “make sure that certain points were emphasized that were important to the board.”