The Ukiah City Council unanimously voted to allow retirement eligible city employees to take retirement two years earlier.

The City Council made the decision after about 10 minutes, according to the Ukiah Daily Journal.

In a budget-balancing move, the proposal would assist the need to lay off 17 city employees. According to the article, the saving are not yet known, but if the eight city employees who previously expressed interest in retiring take the option, the city would save up to $929,345 in salaries.

The article stated that retirement benefits would cost the city $474, 448.

“The reality is that this offers us an opportunity to say to employees who are very, very near retirement or thinking about retirement that they get two years of credit and they get to do their retirement a year or two sooner than they might have,” City Manager Jane Chambers told the Ukiah Daily Journal.