Scott County wants to cut salaries rather than jobs

Bracing for a budget shortfall of as much as $6 million on top of a $3 million cut last fall, Scott County is asking labor unions to consider letting the county trim salaries rather than lay people off at a time of rising demand for the county's services.

And it may ask citizens to help.

"We need more volunteers to help meet our needs," said Jon Ulrich, the board's new chairman. "We may feel we can't keep libraries open as much, for example. But let's train volunteers. I would be willing to spend a couple of hours at a library to keep it open. We need to think differently."

Dakota County is still pondering its options, but it has been under a hiring freeze since December and has about 100 vacant positions.

In Scott, a $6 million hit -- 8 percent of the operating budget -- is a projection "we're hoping is the worst case," said chief financial officer Kevin Ellsworth. "We're hoping for something less drastic."

Most spending goes to salaries, so managers are hoping to succeed in what they call "repricing" of labor to try to preserve jobs and continue services to the public.

"We've had very good discussions about reopening contracts," Ellsworth said. "It's been a positive experience so far."

Asked whether the mood is one of shared sacrifice amid crisis, or, "a lot can go before you touch my paycheck," he replied: "Some of both. A lot of people understand the picture is not good."

As the process of seeking cost-cutting ideas from staffers continues, Ellsworth told the board this week, the county is taking several other cost-cutting measures:

• A hold has been put on any major purchases.

• There's a freeze on filling open positions.

• No out-of-state travel is being authorized.

"If there are unneeded jobs, that's one thing," he said. "But in tight economic times, if people don't have jobs, then it's a downward spiral: foreclosures, banks with bad assets. We want to all make a sacrifice and retain employees that are needed."

Falling on the sword first

The board froze its own pay and eliminated its per diem payments. That is making it easier to go to employees for similar measures, commissioners say.

A variety of other steps are being considered, officials say, including fees for park users, new taxes such as ticket taxes, and raising money by looking for people who could benefit from the county's new fiber optic line, which allows rapid-fire transmission of data.

Other counties are tailoring their own belt-tightening plans. Dakota County commissioners recently heard presentations from financial staff about ways to lower personnel costs, including layoffs, furloughs and pay cuts, but has yet to act.

The situation in Scott County is stiffening resistance to carrying out state mandates that the state refuses to pay for, commissioners say.

There is also a desire to wean the county away from state aid, so as to keep from lurching from crisis to crisis amid just this kind of disruption.

"If the money's there," Ellsworth said, "we could put it into a rainy day fund," but the county wouldn't count on state aid payments every year.