{"id":288093,"date":"2026-05-28T21:31:07","date_gmt":"2026-05-28T21:31:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/288093\/"},"modified":"2026-05-28T21:31:07","modified_gmt":"2026-05-28T21:31:07","slug":"city-of-tallahassee-says-buyout-deal-is-cost-effective-as-voluntary-resignations-mount","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/288093\/","title":{"rendered":"City of Tallahassee says buyout deal is cost-effective as voluntary resignations mount"},"content":{"rendered":"

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WCTV) – The city of Tallahassee says it is prepared to handle the impact of over a hundred city staff and law enforcement taking the city\u2019s voluntary buyout deal<\/a>. <\/p>\n

The \u201cvoluntary separation\u201d option was offered to 2,700 employees who were hired before Jan. 1, 2026. The 171 employees, including 3 Tallahassee police deputy chiefs<\/a>, who took the deal agreed to $20,000 or 12 weeks of pay, along with health insurance until the end of the calendar year. <\/p>\n

From the Tallahassee Police, the fire department and the animal shelter, multiple departments are seeing resignations at command levels.<\/p>\n

The city reportedly only expected about 75 to 125 people to take this year\u2019s buyout based on a similar buyout in 2009 that resulted in 106 employees voluntarily separating, which was about 3% of the workforce. <\/p>\n

\u201cManaging the size of the City\u2019s workforce is an essential component of balancing the budget. Now, with the Governor and State Legislature evaluating property tax revenues, this workforce reduction of about 5 percent will positively impact personnel expenses, which account for a significant share of the City\u2019s operating costs.\u201d<\/p>\n

TPD Chief Lawrence Revell said they\u2019ve been planning for the retirements for a long time and are ensuring that those gaps will be filled. <\/p>\n

\u201cObviously, with the buyout that the city is offering, such a great opportunity, Many more than we were anticipating at one time are taking advantage of that,\u201d Revell said.<\/p>\n

More Tallahassee news:<\/p>\n

However, the TPD chief said that the department is a large organization and despite losing 5 command staff and 21 TPD members, they have a total of 650 people on staff, along with 19 others on his command staff.<\/p>\n

He assured that there won\u2019t be any disparities in staffing, operations or public safety.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere won\u2019t be any gap in services, there won\u2019t be any gap in response times, we\u2019ll make sure all of that flows smoothly,\u201d Revell said.<\/p>\n

For the next fiscal year, the city plans for 4% raises for general employees, no increase in the tax rate, hiring 20 new police officers and updating rate increases for water, sewer and cemetery fees, per previous reporting.<\/p>\n

Tune in to Eyewitness News at 5 p.m. and 6 p.m. for the full story. This article will also be updated this evening with all the details.<\/p>\n

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