Some are wondering how locally we can deal with the budget cuts to our municipal and school budgets without raising taxes. Here are solutions other industries have already implemented; increase the contribution to health care costs, increase the co-pays for health benefits, reducing full time positions to part time positions, freezing wages regardless of contracts, reducing salaries, furlough days and finally layoffs. All of the ways others have had to implement to cope with this economy, local governments and school districts can too. I never said it wouldn't involve sacrifice or be easy. None the less I believe it is necessary.
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
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5 comments:
It would be easier to do these things in large towns that have a lot of services or hired extra people in recent years. Mullica is working with a bare boned crew already. I have no idea how our little road dept. did such a great job this winter.
The police dept. has been needing more men for a long time and I don't see how they could cover all the shifts with less manpower. As I read in an article not long ago, civilians even aided in arrests.
The generous contracts were given out by Chasey,Forman and the rest of the old Republican administration. Maybe you should remember that for the future since the results are upsetting you so much now. I don't know the legal ramifications of trying to freeze the contracts but this administration is trying their best to clean up other mistakes that Chasey,Forman and Kennedy made that were detrimental to the people of Mullica.
Our only hope is that the school board pushes for the health care contributions by the MTEA and trimming as much as possible without hurting the kids.
If THIS Twp. Administration has to negotiate any contracts in the future,you can bet your life, that they will make the citizens of Mullica their top priority.
Making a mess is a lot easier than cleaning it up. I have faith that this sane group of people will put Mullica on the right track but it will take a bit of time.
These are very tough economic times as the writer atates and this may not be temporary. As the stock market rebounds businesses have adjusted by doing the same jobs with less workers and it looks to stay that way. The US manufacturing sector is for the most part now in China. With an average worker in the U.S. making $15.00 an hour plus benefits businesses make a much bigger profit by having the same product made in China for 53 cents per hour with no benefits. Revel may be completed but many projects in A.C. have stalled , abandoned, or failed to make it. Pinnacle, MGM, the ballpark, ACES etc. In short the boom days for the casino business are now gone. So, in short you have no big tax base coming into our area. The State is cutting back on aid and the Federal Government is dangerously close to default if they continue to print more money and more debt.Also from what I hear the township surplus in the budget was reduced last year rather than dealing with these issues back then.The price of petroleum products are going to stay on the high end and who knows what effect the Obama Health plan will have on insurance policies or rates.The school taxes are going to add along with the County tax rate possibly increasing. Non payment of taxes and foreclosures are on the horizon and its going to get very emotional with an increasingly angry public that wont tolerate goldplated contracts. So, in short yes, you need to look at cutting the budget. Probably furloughs would cause the least pain,, then voluntary givebacks or wage freezes. If that fails revert from full time to part time. This all assumes that the workers cooperate rather than seeing their friends and coworkers let go.
China is churning out engineers with master degrees who are receiving $750 a MONTH.
Our technical industries are in jeopardy,too.
My company went to a four-day work week to help make ends meet in this poor economy. That meant a 20% reduction in income for every employee. The alternative was to fire up to 20% of the company's diversified work force. That kind of cut would have devastated our small company because the rest of us could not have adequately handled the daily operation and various duties of the firm. We would not be able to build our machines or service our customers adequately.
Today the teachers' union has to make a decision. Should it take a wage freeze and start contributing to its health care premiums or let its fellow workers be laid off? One decision will protect educational quality of the school. The other will harm it. The answer seems clear to me.
Re 7:47 am
The answer seems clear to the teacher's union,too. Quality education is low,if at all, on the list of it's goals.
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