Wednesday, August 20, 2003

I wanted to correct an inaccurate report in last Wednesday's Citizen and expand on it, as well.

I did NOT propose a 5 percent across the board cut in city staff. I DID put on the table the fact that over 50 percent of our city's expenses are in the form of salaries and benefits (over $15 million) and that in difficult economic times, that expense should be examined in full.

I also specifically stated that while our city employees do a fine job, that we cannot have our cake and eat it too when times are tight. We had already placed city personnel in the 75th percentile for salary a couple of years ago, and this year's budget, despite some talk, included both COLA (cost of living adjustment) and merit increases with zero staff reduction.

To me, some sacrifice is required in order to be fair to the taxpayers. Certainly in the private sector we see sacrifice all the time when times are bad. I haven't had a base salary increase in four years, and I sure as heck have never had a COLA.

I floated the effect of a FOUR percent reduction in staff on Monday night to NON PUBLIC SAFETY EMPLOYEES, which would have saved taxpayers several hundred thousand dollars. I also earlier excluded public safety workers from having to forego the COLA, since it is far more difficult and expensive to recruit, hire, train and retain a policeman or fireman than a librarian or parks monitor.

Just as it is clear to me that I would rather see a GS-12 in the U.S. Department of Labor go without a COLA while the Army major fighting for us in Iraq should get one, the same principle applies in PTC.

In the roaring '90s city employees benefited handsomely from good pay, good benefits, and no staff reduction. And they have always done a very fine job, collectively, in providing good public service. But it is a different world today. We should have addressed our number one expense and figured out creative ways to do more with less, just like we have to do with our own finances at home in tough financial times, and certainly have to do in private industry.

The city is not going to go to hell in a hand basket by working at 96 percent of its current work force levels, as some would have you believe. You simply work harder and smarter, just like everyone else in the world.

While I respect the positions of other members of council and the time and effort everybody put forth in the budget workshops, I just wish more emphasis was placed on cutting costs during this budget process, and for once giving the Peachtree City taxpayer a breather.

Dan Tennant

Councilman

Peachtree City, Ga.