The city of Coeur d'Alene is taking a look at retirement incentives as a way to balance its budget.

Katie Ebner, finance director and treasurer, talked council members through analysis of potential retirement candidates based on department and what has been previously approved for past retirement incentives. 

“There are so many variables, and you have to look at things individually,” Ebner said during a workshop Monday at the Coeur d'Alene Public Library Community Room. 

Whether the city can save money through hiring delays, entry level replacements or internal promotions were also part of the considerations. 

“It does save a lot of money,” City Councilor Christie Wood said.  

If everyone who is a Public Employee Retirement System of Idaho candidate took advantage of a city staff offer, using the past 1% formula, that could incur a $1.49 million incentive cost with only about $1.4 million savings immediately.   

The need to stagger retirements to have costs come in at a trickle instead of a flood was also discussed.   

There are about 30 city employees whose combined age and years of service put them in line to potentially retire per the PERSI recommendations, the minimum age for retirement being 55.  

Of those 30 individuals, seven are salaried employees, seven are police, seven are hourly, five are with the fire department and four are exempt.    

Seven of the 12 salaried city directors are among the retirement candidates being considered.  

Savings could also be partially negated by overtime costs.  

“The goal is to find the right balance between the cost to the city and offering enough to truly incentivize retirement,” Ebner said.  

The fire department doesn’t often get to take advantage of these buyouts because the firefighting contract posed a unique case when councilors discussed delaying hiring replacements. 

Constant staffing is required and if the firefighter positions aren’t filled within 60 days, that goes against the union contract.  

Wood asked if the city could reopen negotiations with the firefighting union. 

“Nothing is in concrete,” Wood said.  

“It’s kind of in concrete,” responded City Councilor Kenny Gabriel, retired fire chief. “They have to fill the shifts.” 

Ongoing costs and one-time savings to the city will be brought to the Oct. 21 City Council meeting. 

The city has been grappling with its finances.

When the council approved the 2025-26 budget of $151.9 million, it included the allowable 3% property tax increase to generate $835,383 and 1% of forgone taxes that will bring in $290,146. The city had to use $1.8 million from the general fund to balance its budget.

Melissa Tosi, Coeur d'Alene director of human resources, said if one person assumes all responsibilities after an individual retires, the city has to compensate them for the extra work if they perform the duties for more than 30 days.  

“The dispersal of duties doesn’t trigger unless one person is fully doing a workload,” Tosi said. 

Assignment pay can also be utilized to get work broken into pieces among the remaining staff.  

The retirement incentive formula based on past city approval was 1% multiplied by the years of service with the city. 

City Administrator Troy Tymesen said that whatever dollar amount the city comes up with is not meant to be a golden handcuff, it’s meant to be a meaningful incentive that helps the city fiscally in the long run.  

“It’s like lightly tapping on the brakes, it does slow expenses down,” Tymesen said.

City Councilor Dan English said that in the long run, the retirement incentive seemed “worth the value” for the city to look into. 

“We have cut to the bone, we just don’t have extra,” English said, cautioning that there were difficult financial decisions ahead.

Wood’s position was that the city has to start somewhere. 

“This is something we could do that is survivable,” Wood said. 

Councilors held off on making a motion during the workshop until incentive guidelines were detailed ahead of the next council meeting. 

Ebner said they could use a flat amount per employee, or as a council member mentioned, a smaller percentage of an employee’s annual salary multiplied by their years of service. 

    A Coeur d'Alene City Council workshop Monday discusses potential retirement incentives for city employees. The meeting took place at the Coeur d'Alene Public Library.