by Lea Tyrrell
What a tough choice for any employee to have to make - a paycut or layoffs! Nassau County workers are being asked to make that decision now. And with the economy the way it is currently, and no significant improvement predicted this year, I suspect it's a decision many other workers around the country may be facing as well.
In Nassau, it's a 7% cut workers are being asked to take or face hundreds of job cuts, all to help close a $130 million budget gap.
When we asked this News 12 Long Island Question of the Day "Do you think county workers should take a pay cut to balance Nassau's budget?" 61% of those who responded said yes. As expected, we got a lot or responses on this topic on the News 12 Sound Off Board and our [email protected] email address.
You can read the Sound Off Board responses by heading over to that button our our website. The debate was interesting. Some viewers felt a lower salary was better than no salary at all, while others thought a few hundred more people on unemployment would be better than a few thousand people, who are already struggling, taking home even less money and falling way behind on their bills. What do you think?
Some more good responses, ideas and questions came in to the Long Island Talks email, and since I don't always get a chance to share them with viewers because of time constraints, I thought I'd share them here.
"First, my husband is currently unemployed. My suggestion to Mr Suozzi is to post 2 police officers in any given school zone at anytime of day. The money that they will make issuing speeding tickets ( not warnings) will more than pay for our police offers and benefits. I would be willing to do this job for a SMALL per cent of the money this would pull in. Simple little things like this can generate thousands. I do not support Mr Suozzi in many areas bit I do support the 7% cut. We are currently paying $1300.00 a month for COBRA. We can not do this much longer. I would have welcomed a pay cut for my husband instead of unemployment and no medical. They could contribute 10% towards their medical insurance and still be way ahead of the game." "We are all in this together! Things are very tough all around. "As a proud employee of NC for almost 22 years, I am again disappointed by a sitting county executive’s plan to balance the budget on the backs of the civil service workers. Over the years, the county workforce has decreased dramatically and with that has come a decrease in services…just look at our county parks. The public does not realize that many county workers make less than $30,000 and are expected to live here in NC. I want to do my part to keep the county solvent and do not want a layoff of my fellow employees, however, I would love to see a campaign to “chop at the top” of the executive staff, instead of starting with the lowest salaried employees. We CSEA workers keep this county moving in so many ways people don’t readily see. I know from experience that all unions will sit down with the county executive and negotiate in good faith, as long as we’re not blindsided by the “smoke and mirrors” the legislature and county executive are fond of promoting."
I work in a private company.
My company just announced paycut for every employee who makes over $40K/year."
First, the government "leaders" (quotes because I'm clearly being generous when their go-to move is "ask for more money") should be taking larger pay cuts, if they want to set an example. When you're talking six-figure salaries of the county executives (I can't find the exact number, for some reason), larger paycuts at the top can preserve more jobs at the bottom. Sure, it might only be a handful, but it's a handful of needy people.
Second, does either county publish a current CAFR? I can't find them, but I've been reading the state's, and it's very enlightening. Despite cries of poverty, government accounting apparently doesn't carry over prior year surpluses, nor does it include assets or investments in the annual budget. Where does that money go, exactly?
Perhaps someone whose loyalties are to the taxpayer should investigate this further.
Posted by: John | February 07, 2009 at 08:20 AM