Ways and Means approves $500,000 appropriation for employee buybacks to cover police and fire payouts

The Everett City Committee on Ways and Means on March 20 approved a $500,000 appropriation from the general fund budgetary fund balance to the human resources employee buyback and related accounts to cover contractual payouts to retiring employees.

John Russullo, acting human resources director, told the committee the payments stem from contractual agreements with union members that require buybacks for unused sick time, vacation, personal time, comp time and holiday pay in some cases. “For these union members, especially police and fire that have been with us a very long time, … there’s a contractual agreement to give them back some of the time that they were not able to take during their tenure,” Russullo said.

Russullo said the city had budgeted $1,000,000 for this purpose earlier and that $83,000 remained in the account. He said roughly $350,000 of the requested $500,000 was already contractually obligated to specific retirees; the remainder would cover anticipated additional retirements this fiscal year, including at least one pending accidental disability retirement.

Committee members asked about caps and differences among bargaining units. Russullo said accrual caps vary by rank; higher‑ranking police and fire personnel can accumulate larger balances and that the police, but not the fire department, pay out comp time. He said tracking and payroll coding for police and fire accruals are maintained by department clerks and that human resources would provide any requested follow‑up details.

A motion for favorable action carried in committee (recorded as unanimous in the committee transcript). The committee’s vote sent the appropriation forward for final city‑council action.