Bulging buyouts putting the pinch on state payroll
The $77.7 million tab Bay State taxpayers paid in 2017 for retiree buyouts is nearly double the bill from just five years ago, a trend that threatens to push the number of ex-state workers taking home one-time, six-figure checks to unseen levels.
The buyouts, fueled by payments for unused sick and vacation time, dwarf the $42.1 million taxpayers shelled out for the same costs in 2012, according to a Herald analysis of state payroll data.
Costs have grown steadily every year since then, hitting $52 million as recently as 2014 and $68.8 million the year after that before jumping again in 2017, hitting its highest levels since the state began putting state payroll data online in 2010.
It shows in individual payouts, too. A dozen state workers retired last year with one-time checks totaling more than $100,000. In 2016, there were just five, a total that mirrors most years in the same time frame.
“We need to start managing this and start putting some controls in place,” said state Inspector General Glenn Cunha, who wrote a letter to lawmakers in the fall warning of the impending tide of $558 million in unused sick and vacation time accrued by workers.
“I look at any state dollar or any dollar of taxpayer money to be important,” he said. “There’s the need for that money to be managed appropriately, especially when you have these huge payouts.”
Tom Shack, the state comptroller, said the large payouts are “symptomatic” of a state workforce where 30 percent are already retirement eligible.
“It is a looming crisis,” he said. “I think it’s going to increase year over year. It’s a curve that goes straight up.”
The Herald reported yesterday that the $77.7 million line item marks the fifth straight year the state paid more in one-time buyouts to retiring employees. It has often included high-ranking education officials, such as ex-Bristol Community College president John “Jack” Sbrega, who retired in August with a $131,000 buyout.
The school said yesterday the payment was based on 480 hours of unused vacation time, totaling $61,127, and a whopping 2,744 unused sick hours. Paid out at 20 percent of the total, that amounted to another $69,900.
But the total number is notable. Based on a regular, 7 1⁄2-hour workday, it’s equal to exactly an entire year of unused sick time — 365 days. Kevin Spirlet, a school spokesman, said up until recent rule changes, administrators were allowed to roll any unused vacation days into their sick time, but he would not provide a breakdown of how many Sbrega rolled over.
Cunha said his office hasn’t studied Sbrega’s case, but he pointed to other large payouts that indicated retirees were paid out as if they never took any time off. “It just demonstrates (the need for) record-keeping,” he said. “Everyone who works for the state should account for their hours.”
Potential reforms could be aired next week. An aide to state Rep. Jerald Parisella, co-chairman of the Committee on Public Service, said it has scheduled a hearing for Tuesday to hear testimony on legislation addressing sick leave.