If the Lathrop City Council agrees when it meets on Monday to conduct the city’s business, City Manager Steve Salvatore may be able to start cashing out some of his accrued sick time.

And it will end saving the City of Lathrop money in the long run.

According to the staff report prepared for the council, Salvatore’s contract allows for him to cash out any unused accrued sick time – a move which typically happens at the time that one’s employment ends with the city.

The same agreement is in place for both the city attorney and the police chief as well.

But as the value of the sick time increases year-after-year with cost-of-living adjustments and salary increases, the existing burden of unpaid sick time has become a funded liability for the city.

If the council were to approve the request when they meet on Monday, Dec. 11, at 7 p.m. Lathrop City Hall – located at 390 Towne Centre Drive – then Salvatore would be able to start cashing out 14 hours of the accrued time every pay period just as long as he keeps his accrued sick time at 160 hours or higher.

If the available time to be cashed out were to fall to a point where Salvatore was not able to take out a full 14 hour block of time without falling below the threshold of 160 hours, he would simply have to leave that time in the accrual bank.

According to the city’s estimates, the resolution when approved by the council would result in an immediate savings of $27,251 when the time is paid out at current hourly rates instead of the future hourly rates that would continue to rise as he continues his employment with the City of Lathrop.

Salvatore has been at the helm of Lathrop for more than a decade and has helped steer the city through the difficult times after the catastrophic collapse of the housing market in 2008 and the subsequent financial crisis that hit Lathrop hard – resulting in a massive residential development being abandoned by the builder and the city facing a $16 million budget deficit at the time.

To view the staff report or the agenda for the upcoming meeting, visit the City of Lathrop’s website at www.ci.lathrop.ca.us.

To contact Bulletin reporter Jason Campbell email jcampbell@mantecabulletin.com.