|
|
| Lane County considers pruning Jail Jobs |
| By Matt Cooper , The Register-Guard, registerguard.com/ |
| Published: 04/28/2011 |
|
If Lane County government were a tree and its branches were public services, acting County Administrator Liane Richardson would say it’s time to do some heavy pruning. Faced with falling revenue and rising costs, the county plans to shed 3 percent of its work force this year — primarily through layoffs — while also considering cuts to compensation and reduced work hours. In her proposed budget for 2011-2012 released this week, Richardson said the cuts would help the county break its reliance on dwindling federal money — but not without “much pain and unease” for residents and employees, she added. Over the years, the commissioners have regularly cut jobs and services as the rising cost of employee wages and benefits has outpaced the growth in revenue from taxpayers and other sources. But they’ve never solved the problem — the rise in personnel and other costs has been higher than the rise in revenue by 3 percentage points most years for roughly a quarter-century. The county must also adjust to the uncertainty of future state funding and a continuing drop in federal timber payments, Richardson said in a written statement introducing her proposed budget. Those federal payments are in their final year in the 2011-12 fiscal year and even if reauthorized later this year could drop to zero in five years. “This budget begins to move the county forward to a place where the county no longer relies upon federal funds to operate,” Richardson said in her budget message. Richardson proposes cutting about 55 positions from the 1,520-strong work force but said additional steps must be taken to fill in the $7 million gap between revenue and expenses in order to balance the budget for the fiscal year starting July 1. One option would be changes to the health insurance plan for county employees, which is “significantly more expensive” than the employee health plans of other public entities, Richardson said. The county would have to negotiate any changes with unions whose contracts with the county include health care benefits. The budgetary goal could also be reached through reduced work hours and layoffs, she added. The county is in negotiations with Oregon AFSCME, the county’s largest union, on a contract to replace the one that ends June 30. The union will consider cost-saving changes, said Jim Steiner, council representative for AFSCME, but he argued that the county health plan is not more costly than comparable plans. Richardson also suggested other cost-saving options, including the closure of 70 to 80 jail beds at the Lane County Jail. The county board reopened 84 beds in the jail two years ago after an especially acrimonious debate about public safety vs. the long-term solvency of the government. Les Sieczkowski, president of the deputies’ union in the Lane County Sheriff’s Office, said the proposed cuts to jail beds or patrol officers would take a heavy toll on public safety. The county cut the department by 25 percent — 93 positions — in 2008. Today, deputies are working “an ungodly amount of overtime” to maintain 24-hour coverage, Sieczkowski said. Richardson proposed cutting two patrol positions in the coming year, although she said the move would compromise the county’s ability to provide 24-hour coverage. The sheriff’s office recently rebuffed a request by county management to renegotiate the current contract to make cuts to wages and benefits, Sieczkowski said. Click here to Read More. |
MARKETPLACE search vendors | advanced search
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
|
Comments:
No comments have been posted for this article.
Login to let us know what you think