County cuts salaries
Friday, February 1, 2008 11:47 AM EST article source
Lawrence County residents stand in line at the Clerk of Courts office Thursday. County offices were notified Thursday that salaries were being cut 15 percent.
The Lawrence County Commission Thursday approved a 2008 general fund budget that cuts 15 percent from salaries for all offices that get their money from the general fund. There were also cuts in other line items as well.
The only areas that did not get the knife were salaries for the Lawrence County Sheriff’s Office road patrol and the county’s contract with South East Ohio Emergency Medical Services for ambulance service. While road patrol deputies will remain on the job, the 15 percent cuts will affect other staff at the sheriff’s office, such as corrections officers, clerks and dispatchers.
“The main thing to focus on now will be to keep people within their budgets,” Commissioner Tanner Heaberlin said. “We’ll have to micromanage to make sure no one goes over (allotments).”
Heaberlin said he hoped officeholders will work with the commissioners to make ends meet and would like to see monthly financial statements from the auditor’s office detailing the county’s financial situation. Though officeholders said they are ready to work with commissioners, they conceded the cuts are going to hurt.
Lawrence County Recorder Sharon Gossett-Hager said the budget cut means she will have to lay off one of her five employees. Her salaries line item was allotted $127,167, that is about $22,000 less than what she got last year.
“I think this means we’re going to have to work a lot harder and the turn around time (for getting documents) is not going to be 24 hours,” she said. Gossett-Hager said while she is not happy with the 15 percent cut, she is relieved that commissioners did not enact the 20 percent cut they had initially talked about.
Lawrence County Treasurer Stephen Dale Burcham said he is not sure how this will affect his staff of four people but intended to sit down with the union that represents them, Teamsters Local 92 and discuss options. Burcham’s office was allotted $72,583.14 and was cut nearly $13,000
Lawrence County Auditor Ray T. Dutey said he will likely lose one full-timer and one part-timer because of his budget reduction. Dutey was allotted $290,644.67 for salaries this year. That’s nearly $55,000 less than what he got last year. Right now there are nine full-timers and a part-timer employed at the auditor’s office. Dutey said even before any cuts, his office was a bare bones operation and considerably smaller than those found in other counties of similar size.
“Athens County has 16 people in the auditor’s office and Washington County has 14,” Dutey said. “The reason we have done so well with the staff we have it that we do have a great staff. Chris (deputy auditor Kline) has been around long enough and he knows everything and we have really a lot of good employees and that’s why we are able to do what we do.”
The 2008 budget is based on estimated revenues of $13,781,410, including all fees and the half-cent sales tax, which is used primarily to fund emergency services.