Seventeen city employees have opted to accept retirement incentives offered by the city.

The employees, who must leave by Dec. 31, will be taking with them a total of 451 years of service to the city, averaging 26.5 years per person.

The city's human resources department hasn't provided the exact total of the salaries saved, but it uses a figure of $100,000 in combined salary and benefits for an average position, which totals $1.7 million annually, city spokesperson Andrew Powers said.

The $400,000 buyout program for certain employees was the City Council's partial answer to the $3.2million budget gap for the fiscal year beginning in July and the $4million deficit expected the following year.

Thousand Oaks offered $20,000 in a retirement health savings account to 20 employees over age 50 who've worked for the city for at least 15 years.

On March 10 the council voted to appropriate up to $400,000 for the retirement incentive offer from various funds in the 2009-10 budget.

If the positions vacated by retirement under this plan must be filled, the city will give priority to inhouse promotions or transfers. By doing this, the city plans to freeze one position per retirement, either by not filling the retiree's position or by freezing the position of the person who replaces the retiree.

The city's assistant city attorney Patrick Hehir wouldn't release the names of the city employees who will be retiring. He wrote, "The specific names of individuals will not be made available. Disclosure of their names constitutes an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy."