BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) - Ten North Dakota cabinet-level agencies on Tuesday asked employees to take voluntary buyouts to help balance the state budget that has been hit hard by slumping energy and commodities prices.
The letter sent to some 3,600 employees comes as legislators struggle to adopt a balanced budget for the next two-year budget cycle that begins July 1. The most recent estimates are that revenues will fall nearly $500 million short of the state’s proposed $4.3 billion spending plan.
Republican Gov. Doug Burgum met with the appointed heads of 17 agencies to discuss the buyouts, and 10 of them opted to do so, spokesman Mike Nowatzki said. There is no target for the number of employees who may wish to leave, Nowatzki said.
“Obviously, the budget situation is still playing out in the Legislature,” Nowatzki said.
A huge drop in North Dakota tax collections has had the state scrambling to make up for shortfalls to the state treasury for the past two years. Expected revenue from tax collections has missed the mark by more than $1.4 billion since then due to a slumping economy.
Those shortfalls have been plugged by draining a rainy-day fund, massively cutting most government agencies and skimming profits from North Dakota’s state-owned bank.
The letter said the buyouts could “limit the number of non-voluntary reductions that may be necessary.”
Lawmakers have yet to approve many of the major appropriations bills this session, which is required to end by May 1.
Pam Sharp, the state’s top budget writer, said agencies have offered such buyouts in the past but “it’s unprecedented we’ve rolled it out to so many agencies at the same time.”
The agencies participating range from the state Highway Patrol to the Health Department. Nowatzki said the governor’s own staff may also consider the buyouts.
Sharp said options for the buyouts range from a lump-sum payout of three months’ salary to accepting no pay but staying on the state’s health insurance plan for a year.
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