Staff requests $200,000 for accrued‑leave reserve as retirements loom

Staff reported that the county’s accrued‑leave reserve balance stood at about $25,000 and that multiple employees expected to leave would consume most of that balance. “As you can see, our current balance is $25,000, but we have multiple people who will definitely be leaving in the next couple of months,” the presenter said, and added that expected payouts this year would use a little over $21,000, leaving a projected year‑end balance of approximately $4,000.

Staff estimated total liability for all employee accrued leave at about $472,000 and said the liability for those currently eligible to retire was roughly $95,000. To cover retirements and ordinary turnover staff asked for $200,000 in the FY27 budget to replenish the reserve and provide coverage through likely retirements. Committee members questioned whether $200,000 was necessary versus a smaller top‑up and asked for more detail on average turnover/churn (staff estimated roughly 4–6 departures per year) and the number of employees (staff said roughly 60–70 employees), and how that percentage would convert to reserve needs.

Members discussed pacing the reserve increase versus conserving cash and asked staff to provide a worksheet showing projected payouts, turnover assumptions and how a $100,000 versus $200,000 funding level would change year‑end exposure. Staff said they included multi‑year balances in the budget request and will provide clarifying schedules before the next meeting.