CSEA upset with proposed staff cuts in 2011 budget

MAYVILLE — The County Legislature will take a week to digest the proposed 2011 budget before beginning their deliberations. From the county executive’s presentation Wednesday, the next public discussion of the budget will be Monday, Oct. 4 — with several budget meetings scheduled for throughout the week. At 9:10 a.m. the first day, the legislature’s Audit and Control Committee will meet with Public Facilities. The Audit and Control committee members will then meet with the Public Safety Committee at 1:15 p.m. The Audit and Control Committee oversees the entirety of the legislature’s budget review process, meeting first with fellow committees and then department heads. Following the week’s meetings, the Audit and Control Committee balances the budget with any changes made by the committees. Administrative Services will meet at 9:10 a.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 5, with Planning and Economic Development scheduled for 9:10 a.m. Wednesday and Human Services scheduled for 11:15 later that morning. On Friday, Audit and Control will call back department heads and make any budget changes necessary to balance the budget. The full County Legislature will then meet at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 27 to vote on the 2011 budget. STAFF CUTS As proposed by County Executive Greg Edwards, the 2011 budget will feature a tax rate increase of 74.8 cents and a total tax levy hike of close to $5 million. In total, the proposed budget amounts to $232,499,337, an increase of $6,818,401 over the 2010 adopted budget of $225,680,936. To help close the now $21 million deficit, Edwards has proposed eliminating eight employees — a staff cut which comes on top of the early retirement incentive. Though 72 employees opted for the incentive, 21 positions will be refilled. In total, Edwards has proposed cutting the county by 59 positions, with 51 coming from the early retirement incentive and 8 coming from layoffs. During the public comment portion of Wednesday’s legislature meeting, Rose Conti, CSEA Unit 6300 president, asked that the layoffs be re-thought. For reasoning, Conti pointed out how the CSEA changed its insurance twice at the request of the county — thinking that such changes were better than layoffs. Conti continued on to say that the county then asked the union to re-open its contracts, to which Conti said the CSEA responded by suggesting the early retirement incentive. “We suggested we do that as a way of avoiding layoffs and again, the union came up with the idea,” Conti said. “So once again, we did something to avoid layoffs and after we’ve done all that, we’re still told that that’s still not enough for the hard-working people in this county government and that eight more people are going to have to leave.” Conti questioned whether eight people or six people will be laid-off in 2011, alleging that two were recently fired by the county. “I understand that the county talks about being punished by the state and the state’s budget, but this is punishing human beings and families,” Conti said. “We talk about what we need to grow a county and yet what we do instead is we hurt people, we lay people off. I don’t know how you grow by laying off.” Reiterating her request, Conti asked legislators to take a “close, long-range look” at the budget and the eight proposed cuts. “How much difference is it really going to make to hurt those eight people and then be paying unemployment to those eight people, to perhaps put them on the welfare rolls so that next time, you’ll hear that there will be more cost,” Conti said. “If we don’t lead by example and if we don’t say you need good, high-paying jobs in this county, who will? As part of county government, maybe that’s part of our job.” EARLY RETIREMENTS Following Conti’s statements, a county employee who works as a Medicaid social welfare examiner addressed the legislature. Not refilling the positions vacated through the early retirement incentive will result in an overburdened staff, the employee said. “A little over three years ago, the Medicaid department lost nine workers and the job got overwhelming,” the employee said. “It got frustrating. They transferred out and the state came in and did a study, finding that we needed to hire those nine people back and that we actually needed additional workers.” Now, not refilling the positions of retirees, the employee said, will result in further burdening employees’ caseloads. “I have a caseload of 1,500 people and you’re not talking about people that are on cash assistance, you’re talking about people that are disabled — the working poor that we have to serve every day,” the employee said. “By cutting the staff or not refilling the staff, you’re hurting your constituents. “I do my work, what I can in my 7-hour day, just like my co-workers,” the county employee continued. “We put our 7-hours in and we work to the best of our ability, but when you’re doubling our work. ... We’re already constantly on the phone, making 20 to 30 calls a day wondering why our cases aren’t getting opened. By not refilling these positions, you’re hurting yourselves.”