Politics on the Hudson

Turns out Board of Legislators Chairman Ken Jenkins and County Executive Rob Astorino agree.

A day after Astorino panned the chairman and board Democrats for supporting some pension provisions, Jenkins today said a board analysis led them to conclude that workers should choose between the county’s  incentive and one offered by the state.

Workers should not be able to benefit from both, he said. That’s consistent with what Astorino had said.

The Astorino administration had said allowing workers to benefit from the two plans — a county buyout incentive worth up to $30,000 and the state’s recently approved perk — was tantamount to a double dip that would cost Westchester taxpayers $3.2 million a year or $16 million over five years.

“That cost was just not an acceptable cost,” Jenkins said this afternoon.

The board will still have a public hearing at 9 a.m. Monday, but it will be on a revised bill, he said. The board will not vote on the matter until June 21, he said.

Astorino had assailed Democrats, saying they are trying to legalize pension double-dipping, though Jenkins said his criticisms were premature because the board was doing its diligence. The chairman reached his conclusion today.

With county’s incentives, 276 workers filed the necessary paperwork — that could save an estimated $23 million a year or $114 million over five years, the administration has said.

The state’s package added another 126 workers, bringing the total number of departures to 402.

Gov. David Paterson and the Legislature in May passed a bill authorizing early retirement incentives for state and local workers, letting employees retire without penalty at age 55 with a minimum of 25 years of service, or receive an additional month of pension credit, capped at 36 months, for each year of service.

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