Minutes - 20090528 - Laserfiche WebLink

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through Human Resources, which sends it to Budget, which makes a recommendation to the Manager. Commissioner Jacobs asked about the retirement incentives and what this saves. Donna Coffey said that the $375,000 is a net savings. Discussion ensued about the projections for the retirement incentives. The projection is that 25% of the eligible employees will take advantage of it. Commissioner Hemminger said that she has concerns about the longevity pay. She would like for it to stay on as an option to reduce. Laura Blackmon said that there are 344 employees out of 840 employees who get longevity pay and it is people on the upper end of their pay grade. There are some arguments about whether longevity pay is the way to go and whether merit increases would not be better. Commissioner Jacobs said that it was suggested to use language about postponing some of these benefits instead of just eliminating them. He said that there are adjustments that need to be made beyond the pay and classification plan. He wants to put pay and benefits in a category to revisit. He made reference to pages 42-44 and requested that the actual numbers be put in bold versus the equivalencies. Chair Foushee said that she would hope the Board could have this conversation in total and she does not want it to look like the County Commissioners are balancing the budget on the backs of employees. Laura Blackmon made reference to the last page of the abstract and the table with the green line at the bottom. This table shows different scenarios of achieving the targeted tax rate. She said that some of the revenues are guesstimates because there is no way to know what the State is going to do. There may have to be some mid-year adjustments. The items on the table for adjustment include a decrease in the safety net, postponement of the Comprehensive Plan and videostreaming/podcasting, suggested furloughs, and reducing longevity payments. Commissioner Yuhasz asked if there was a figure to keep all of the libraries open at their current level and adequately fund the new library. Laura Blackmon said that staff has been working with the figure $250,000, which is still a reduction in hours at the main library and keeping the branch libraries at their current levels. Staff will verify these numbers and provide figures for different scenarios for the main library. Commissioner Pelissier said that she does not know the extent to which staff has followed all of the details about everything that is happening. She wants to make sure that the employees know the big picture and not just how they are being impacted with the budget. She suggested that a letter be drafted on behalf of the County Commissioners to staff explaining what has been done and why. Laura Blackmon said that she has sent out information to employees, particularly what was in the recommended budget. She said that the employees are there to serve the public, and when they see cuts, they see an impact in the way that they can serve the public. Chair Foushee asked the Chair of the ERC to speak about how the employees feel about the budget. ERC Chair Glen Bowles said that the employees would appreciate anything the Board of County Commissioners could communicate to them. He said that the Manager has been communicating the generalities as she knows them to the employees. He said that as the Chair this year, there has not been a lot of agreement as to what ought to happen. He said that they would like to work with Human Resources on the retirement issue because there has been a lot of chatter on this issue. He would encourage the continued dialogue. Laura Blackmon said that there is a general perception among employees that every year the schools get everything they want and the County employees do not (funds, equipment, computers, staffing levels, new vehicles, etc).