The retirement of two long-time City of Decorah employees could come with a $96,000 price tag

Decorah city government could be losing two long-time employees in the future.  Neither one has announced a retirement date, but city officials have been discussing how to plan for a smooth succession when either long-time employee—one in the Park-Rec Department and another in the City Clerk's Office—does make an announcement.

The proposal that has been discussed is to have overlap between the current employees and the new employees hired to replace them.  The only question has been the amount of overlap.

The original proposal was to have two employees working each position for 12 months.  That proposal had a price tag of $191,707 in additional salaries and benefits.  The original proposal then was modified to nine months, which carried a $143,780 price tag.

When the proposal was presented to Decorah City Council members, they wanted a three month time period, which carried a price tag of under $48,000.  But in budget discussions, city staff asked that the funding be put at the six month level of $95,853, with the understanding that the three month goal would be worked towards, but the money for a longer transition would be in the budget if needed.

At this point, the discussion still is theoretical, since neither employee has said she is retiring.  But it's also certain that after that retirement date, the transition to a new employee will include at least a three month period of time when the jobs are filled by two persons, not one.