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Tuesday, November 17, 2009 9:33 PM CST
OUR VIEW: For some, county pay raise looks good
By the JG/T-C Editorial Board
editorial@jg-tc.com
Coles County Board members must be optimistic about the improvement of the economy in 2010.
Last week, the board approved the 2010 fiscal year budget and included small pay raises for employees.
Full-time employees will make $500 more for the year and permanent part-time employees will get $250 more.
A full-time employee making $25,000 would be getting a 2 percent raise. An employee making $50,000 will get what amounts to a 1 percent increase.
The pay raise for full-time employees amounts to almost $10 a week.
We all can agree that it is a modest amount.
But even modest pay raises sometimes are difficult to justify.
That is the case in the current economic climate, which has been in the dumps for the past 18 months or so.
The board adopted a budget for the fiscal year that begins Dec. 1 that is about $148,000 larger than the current year’s $11 million budget.
But, being realistic, some board members said it is possible the county will take in less money next year than expected.
Because the county is under the Property Tax Extension Limitation Law, property tax revenue can only increase by last year’s rate of inflation, which was 1/10th of 1 percent.
Board member Mike Weaver, who chairs the finance committee that prepared the budget, told the board that the present rate of inflation is actually below zero.
The budget projection for sales tax revenue is expected to be $230,000, a drop of $130,000 from what the 2009 budget forecast.
We understand why county officials said this was a “very difficult year” for preparing a budget.
When property taxes are expected to increase 1/10th of a percent and sales tax revenue is expected to be less than the current year, “difficult” is an appropriate term.
Most Coles County residents can identify with the “difficult year” scenario.
It has been difficult for many folks for at least a year, and the unemployment rate indicates it will be difficult for some people for at least a while in 2010.
Money is tight in the private sector and that makes it tight in the public sector.
Some may say a $500 raise for full-time employees and a $250 raise for part-time employees reflects tightening the belt.
But when a large segment of the community has no job or no pay increase, then having a full-time job with a $10 a week pay increase is pretty generous.
— JG/T-C Editorial Board
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soybeanpod wrote on Nov 18, 2009 6:28 AM: