THE ISSUE County workers lose a pay day
WHAT I THINK Start with cutting a day’s pay from elected officials
It’s been said desperate times call for desperate measures. Combine that with ‘Live by the sword, die by the sword’ and substitute sales taxes for the sharp-edged instrument of warfare and you’ll understand where Camden County finances are.
The Camden County Commission put a notice in paycheck envelopes last week that said all county employees would not receive their traditional day’s pay for the day after Thanksgiving this year.
All county departments except law enforcement will be closed on that Friday, employees will not be getting a paid day off.
It’s not hard to argue with eliminating that perk considering sales tax revenue has dropped about 16 percent from where it was just two years ago.
We were disturbed no one in the courthouse Thursday afternoon could tell us how much that day off would save the county. You’d think they’d have at least made a ‘guesstimate’ before making that decision.
If the county is in such dire straights that the commission must cut a day’s pay for employees to help make ends meet, then we think they should lead by example – forego a day’s pay along with the rest of the staff.
Just a few days ago, the commission promised to have someone look into the base flood elevation maps drawn up by the Federal Emergency Management Agency to make sure they were accurate. The commission said then it didn’t know how it would pay for it.
If this is their plan, fine, but make the savings across the board by taking the pay cut themselves that they are imposing on others.
Since salary for elected county officials is set by state statute, we’d expect to see each one cut a check payable to the county’s general revenue fund.
That would be a welcome sign of leadership in these tough times.
Contact Lake Sun editor David Schiefelbein at david.schiefelbein@lakesunoline.com.
