Local public officials decide against pay freeze

Bloomington and Monroe County have responded “no” to Gov. Mitch Daniels’ suggestion that public employees forego pay raises for 2009.

In December, Daniels suggested that public officials at all levels forego pay raises in 2009 to take pressure off of government-run organizations. But both Monroe County and Bloomington officials said doing this would be unreasonable, citing a balanced local budget, inappropriate timing and the necessity to account for an increase in the cost of living.

Daniels made the suggestion at a Dec. 23 press conference, saying public officials who volunteered to skip pay raises this year would be following a precedent already set by employees of the state, IU and Purdue and other government-run organizations.

“Every such decision would take pressure off local and school budgets and help ensure the continuity of vital public services,” Daniels said at the press conference.

But Monroe County and Bloomington officials said the county and city would not be taking Daniels’ advice.

Dan Sherman, administrator and attorney for the Bloomington city council, said the city would not be heeding the suggestion because the city council passed the ordinance for its budget that includes public officials last summer – long before Daniels’ press conference.

“We did adopt a budget last year for public officials – this was before he made any sort of announcement,” Sherman said.

Sherman later said in an e-mail that the state of the current economy will make planning the 2010 city budget more challenging, but once the salaries for public officials have been fixed, they cannot be altered in the year they apply.

Vic Kelson, president of the Monroe County Council, said full-time employees of the county are receiving a $1,000 pay raise in 2009, but that amount is already below the $1,400 projected cost of living increase for the year.

“We tried to get the cost of living increase, but there just wasn’t enough money,” Kelson said.

But to deny them any pay raise at all would be unfair, Kelson said, and the county council sees no reason why the pay raises it has budgeted for county employees in 2009 are untenable.

“The price of a lot of things went up ... Our employees need to be able to manage their finances.”

As for government employees like public school teachers, Kelson said the reason they were being asked to forego pay raises was because of House Enrolled Act 1001, a state bill that moved funding for schools from property tax to sales tax. As the recession has deepened and people have spent less money, sales tax yielded less funding for schools.

“What the governor is asking for is for our employees to take a hit on their incomes because the funding formulas the state came up with are insufficient to cover current expenses,” Kelson said.

Daniels, however, stressed he is not forcing this suggestion on anyone.

“I have no way to make this happen and no intention to criticize anyone who does not act on it,” Daniels said. “But it would be in the best Hoosier tradition of neighbor helping neighbor, as here those helping out receive their paychecks from the taxes paid by their fellow citizens, in a private economy where raises will be few and far between.”