Early retirement incentives (ERIs) – also known as supplemental retirement programs – are among the major reasons behind school district cost increases, according to Oregon Secretary of State Bill Bradbury.

Bradbury came to that conclusion after taking a deeper look into a December 2002 audit by his agency (May 19, 2004, follow up report No. 2004-19). Bradbury’s office estimated school districts could save $162 million per year if they spent the state average on support services.

ERIs were cost-effective a few years ago when they began. But as more and more staff retire, school boards assume a growing financial burden because they must pay more insurance premiums (employer-paid health insurance was the main benefit of this incentive).

The report notes the main cost drivers in these support service categories:

Cost controls

Health insurance: In recent years, more school boards have placed caps on premium contributions. In 1999-2000 only 48.4 percent of districts had insurance caps. By 2003-2004, 97.1 percent had insurance premium caps.

PERS: The employer contribution is a major cost driver, although very little can be controlled by local boards. The unfunded actuarial liability (UAL) still lurks, despite an improved economy – which means employer rates may be increased from 11 to 17% in the 2005-2007 biennium to help pay it.

Weaning away ERI: The bargaining trend is to reduce Early Retirement Incentives. Data from the Oregon Department of Education show the average expenditure toward supplemental retirement programs for 91 districts was 4.17 percent of the total support service expenditure.

Answers to questions regarding strategies and techniques in negotiating these issues can be found by contacting Ron Wilson .

Additional Resource:

• General Fund Supplemental Retirement Expenditures by Districts, Fiscal Year 2002-2003 (12k )
  Data from the ODE database initiative system.