County Employees Could Face System-Wide Pay Cuts; Elimination of Jobs
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By RNW Staff Writer Dawn Treglown
With a poor economy looming overhead, Floyd County Manager Kevin Poe said major cutbacks are a clear possibility.
“We’ve been holding budget meetings,” Poe said. “Our worst case scenario is a reduction in pay implemented as well as a reduction in force.”
He said the county is considering freezing or eliminating 18 positions paired with a 4½ percent pay cut across the board.
Poe said the county has been trying to close a $1.4 million gap in the budget and is still short by over $1 million.
“We’ve already cut everything we can in the operating budget except personnel,” he said.
He added that personnel accounts for 60-percent of the county’s budget.
Poe said that without the reduction in pay, the county would have to look at eliminating 36 positions.
“About half of those 18 positions we’re looking at are positions that are empty that we’re just not going to fill right now,” he said.
He said he hoped only a handful of people would be affected by the force reduction.
“Our goal is to keep people employed,” Poe said. “Anything we can find to do other than what’s being proposed, we’re willing to look at. We’re open to suggestions.”
He said the proposed 4½ percent pay cut, if implemented, would be across the board, affecting every county employee.
“No department would be exempt,” he said, adding that he would be taking one of the largest cuts.
Poe said the finance committee would again be looking at possible solutions to the budget deficit on Tuesday. He added that the county commission would need to pass a budget by the end of the month.
The Floyd County Commission meets again on Tuesday, Feb. 13, at 2 p.m.
