Minnesota Shutdown Prompts Roseville Man To Postpone Retirement

John Ridge said he was looking forward to retiring this month.

But the Roseville man, who has worked in collections for the Minnesota Department of Revenue for the past 25 years, now doesn’t want to leave with a state government shutdown in process. He has worked in the last 3 years with the Taxpayer Rights Advocate Office and has been with the state of Minnesota for nearly 35 years.

“I want to retire on my own terms,” said Ridge, 56. “I want to see how things are going.”

Ridge and his wife Cindy, who is an elementary school secretary in the St Anthony-New Brighton School District, are taking a wait-and-see approach on how long the state government shutdown lasts.

“I’m guessing, hoping it won’t go more than a week,” John Ridge said of a state government shutdown.

Although he’s not angry about the shutdown, Ridge said he tends to feel the Republican majority in the Legislature has been less willing to compromise to resolve the budget impasse.

As for the financial impact of the shutdown, Ridge said he got a regular, full check this past week. But if the shutdown drags on, workers’ next checks-which  are scheduled to be issued July 15-willl be short three days pay from a regular pay period  (The previous pay period ended June 21 and the latest one ended on July 5, he said.)

Another concern: If the shutdown drags on, state employees will have to pick up the employer’s share of premiums for their health insurance.  “If it is only for a week, it won’t be so bad,” he said. “But if it is a month, that would be more of burden.”

In the meantime,the Ridges said they are pulling in their spending and not going to take any big vacations or make any big-ticket purchases. 

“We have a daughter in Chicago,” Cindy Ridge said. “It looks like we won’t be seeing her this summer.”