TERRE HAUTE — The Vigo County Council voted 6-1 on Tuesday to offer a buyout package to more than a dozen county employees in order to reduce the county’s work force and save money.

The buyout was offered only to employees doing jobs that will need council approval to be refilled.

“I think this was the best savings for the county,” said Kathy Miller, president of the County Council, speaking after the Tuesday evening council meeting in the Vigo County Annex.

About 40 county employees expressed an interest in the buyout plan. However, about half of them are in positions that are not subject to a county government hiring freeze, meaning department heads could refill their jobs without asking the council’s permission.

Judith Anderson, one of three Vigo County commissioners, told the seven-member council that the commissioners supported a different buyout plan than the one approved by the council. The plan supported by the commissioners would have offered the buyout plan to all county employees wanting to take the buyout offer.

“We would prefer that the buyout be for all 40 or 42 employees,” Anderson told the council before their vote. Even if those positions are all refilled, the new employees would likely be hired at a lower salary and may not sign up for the county’s insurance plan; that would still result in a net savings for the county, she said.

Still, the council voted for the other option.

Under the buyout plan passed by the council, participating county employees will stop reporting to work after this week. They will then receive the remainder of their annual salary for 2010 and also their remaining 2010 insurance coverage and other benefits. They will also continue to receive their public employee retirement contributions from the county until the end of the year, county officials said.

In return, the employees must agree not to seek unemployment benefits and cannot be rehired by the county in the future, Anderson said.

The combined annual salaries of everyone who may now take part in the buyout is about $716,000, said County Auditor Tim Seprodi. If the county hires new people to fill 10 of those positions, the annual savings to the county in 2011 will be about $170,000 and about $400,000 in 2012, he said.

If all of the positions are left vacant, the county would see an annual savings of the full $716,000 annually beginning in 2012, Seprodi said.