Dan Haglund
To date, only one Clay County employee has taken the Early Retirement Incentive Program offer out of about 60 qualifying individuals, according to Human Resources director Darren Brooke.
One other employee is in the process of taking early retirement as well, Brooke said.
Clay County approved the ERIP on Nov. 18 targeting around 60 eligible employees by incentivizing earlier retirement to save on salaries and benefits, aiming to bring in new hires at lower pay scales.
The window of opportunity for employees to take advantage of this program, which includes a $9,600 severance along with a payout for sick time of 300-plus hours for those with more than five years of banking it, runs from Dec. 1 to June 30.
It comprises a strategy to manage rising costs without layoffs or hiring freezes, offering incentives to older, long-tenured staff to leave sooner.
Brooke said it’s still early in the process, but he does not expect there to be a large number of employees who take on the program.
“It’s a wait and see right now,” Brooke said. “Some people will take a closer look (at the program) after the holidays if they were planning on retiring anyway. This is a good opportunity for them to take it.”
The county has a graded step program for employment, and those individuals who have about 20 years of employment and have reached the 12th or 13th steps (highest levels) are the ones qualifying for the ERIP, Brooke said.
He said the hard deadline for the program in June 30, but employees need to be “off the books” by then, so they need to really decide by about June 1.
The two individuals who have signed up or are in the process of signing up are a correctional officer and a Public Health employee.
Brooke said there’s not really a dollar amount he can state will be saved based on each individual’s retirement, as each person comes in at a unique salary level, and potentially different county contributions based on family size.
The potential retirements would also usher in newer, younger talent at entry-level pay. The policy was set forth by the Board of Commissioners last month to offset rising costs and attempt keep property taxes down.
The board passed a 4.35 percent property tax levy for 2026 for residents last week. The process of trimming budgets began in April, and early assessments for different county department budgets were much more robust than the final numbers in the final passage.
The trimmed budgets came as a result of changes from both the state and federal government, in spite of greater demands being placed on county employees with various increased workloads.
The Minnesota Department of Revenue released preliminary property tax levy data last month showing a potential increase of nearly $1 billion for next year. That represents a 6.9 percent spike over 2025.
Every single one of Minnesota’s 87 counties has proposed raising taxes for next year, and about 18 of them are looking at double-digit bumps.