City of Houston offering retirement payout to eligible employees
HOUSTON - In a letter obtained by FOX 26 and shared with City of Houston employees, Mayor John Whitmire says they should expect citywide restructuring along with offering a one-time retirement payout option to eligible employees.
The Citywide Efficient Study recently conducted by the City is an influential reason behind the city's new reorganization plan.
City of Houston offering retirement payout to eligible employees
Mayor John Whitmire says City of Houston employees should expect citywide restructuring and offered a one-time retirement payout option to eligible employees.
Mayor Whitmire offers payout
What we know:
As part of Mayor Whitmire's plan to be responsible with the City's budget, he has offered retirement-eligible employees a payout.
This one-time Voluntary Municipal Employee Retirement Payout Option would reportedly give employees financial support and access to healthcare benefits.
City of Houston hiring freeze
The backstory:
This payout option comes amid a citywide hiring freeze that took place after a $350 million budget shortfall.
An Ernst and Young report showed there are too many city employees for an organization as big as Houston.
Houston mayor plans hiring freeze for city positions
The freeze follows a third-party report on the City of Houston's $300 million budget shortfall.
At this time, vacant positions for the City of Houston will not be filled. The mayor said the freeze is an opportunity to cut expenses and personnel needs are reassessed.
The Mayor's Office previously gave his statement, "Following the EY efficiency study of all city departments and personnel, the mayor believes a hiring freeze is an opportunity to cut expenses, ensuring that our personnel needs are reassessed to benefit the organization and taxpayers. Houston has many great, hardworking employees, but the efficiency study indicated that there are too many for an organization the size of the city."
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Citywide restructuring
Along with the payout option and hiring freeze, Mayor Whitmire also stated a large percentage of the City's budget goes to personnel costs and they are committed to minimizing the need for layoffs.
Due to this, they will be having citywide restructuring which means employees should expect to see changes in their job duties, job titles and reporting structures.
Fox 26 received a statement from HOPE Local 123, the City Worker's Union, supportive of Whitmire's buyout plan:
The Source: Information was gathered from the City Worker's Union, a letter sent by the Houston Mayor John Whitmire to City of Houston employees and previous FOX 26 report.