Forsyth County axing jobs, raises

Hammered by a slowdown in development and the general economic downturn, Forsyth County is cutting 26 employees and rescinding cost-of-living and merit raises for its nearly 1,300 workers.

The cuts are part of a pared-down budget approved 3-2 Thursday night by the Forsyth County Commission.

Hardest hit will be the county Planning and Development Department, which is to lose 21 employees or about one-third of its staff.

At least one commissioner, Dr. Linda Ledbetter, asked that the budget vote be put off for a week and a half, saying she hoped that would give the board time to find the money to give employees at least a fraction of the 7.3 percent raises they were promised in May.

“I can’t see not giving the people a 1 percent raise,” Ledbetter said.

She also argued that commissioners should continue to fund the positions targeted for elimination for at least two months to see if there are other jobs the employees could fill.

But Commissioner Dave Richard said waiting could just force the commission to make deeper cuts. “Revenue projections keep getting worse,” he said.

The $84.1 million budget that was approved is down 18.9 percent from the original 2008 budget. It’s even 3 percent lower than the 2009 spending plan that was proposed Dec. 4.

Bill Thomas, the county’s chief financial officer, said more cuts were made in the last few days based on new data showing revenues continue to fall and no signs of rebounding.

The county’s sales tax revenues are down 7.8 percent for the first nine months of this year and are expected to continue their decline for the last three months of 2008 and into 2009, Thomas said.

The county also expects its other sources of revenue to be flat or to decline in 2009, including its investment income, he said.

At two recent meetings, county employees pleaded with commissioners to give them either the 4.3 percent cost-of-living raises or the merit raises, averaging 3 percent, that they had been promised. Some suggested that commissioners dip into the county’s reserves for some or all of the $4.15 million the raises would cost.

Eliminating the 26 positions is expected to save $1.22 million.

Interim County Manager Doug Derrer said he and some department heads will meet this week to discuss how to reduce staff. Beside the cuts in the planning department, engineering and code enforcement will lose five people total.