How to say “no” to public employees
7 comments January 11th, 2009
(This was first published Sunday morning in the Rockford Register Star Opinions section. Thanks to readers who have already responded via e-mail.)
Thursday, Winnebago County Board Chairman Scott Christiansen said he and board members agreed to table a vote that could have raised the salaries of seven executive-level positions. That’s about 48 hours after the Register Star reported Tuesday that the board was going to vote on the raises at its meeting tonight.
My skeptical self is pretty sure it was a series of inquiries made by our Editorial Board and an editorial, along with a slew of outraged taxpayers, that encouraged them to rethink any such thing.
Randy Olson, chair of the executive committee that originally sent the increase proposals to the full board, said in the Tuesday story that he didn’t know how “to tell these seven people ‘no’ when we’ve already given raises to the other 1,500 or so.” (He was talking about 4 percent raises already approved for union and nonunion employees.)
The simple answer is, well, simple: NO.
But, I know public-sector types aren’t experienced at these kinds of things, so it occurred to me I could help.
It’s my tax dollars that pay these folks and fund the services they provide for us. That makes me — and every other taxpayer — their boss. And public-sector types have little empathy for, much less understanding of, how private businesses are handling these historically bad times.
Here’s what private-sector bosses and executives, who have had to say “no” a lot these days, would do:
TO: All my employees — union or nonunion, cops, firefighters, teachers, clerks, janitors, mayors, village presidents, board members (except school board members because no one pays them), legislators, park district lifeguards, Airport Authority, MetroCentre, RAEDC, Convention & Visitors Bureau, and a big etc. You should consider yourself my employee if you get a paycheck of any size for any reason that has my tax dollars anywhere in it.
FROM: Linda Grist Cunningham, your boss, citizen, taxpayer and private business executive for more than three decades
RE: Payroll and expenses for 2009 and beyond
The Rock River Valley, which includes Winnebago and Boone counties, is experiencing the worst economic climate since 1981, and likely since the Great Depression. In 1981, our unemployment rate at 25 percent was the highest in the country. Today, unemployment is at 10.3 percent. We are about 30 percent higher than December’s national rate of 7.2 percent.
In January, when we see the December 2008 unemployment numbers for our region, we may exceed 11 percent — and all signs indicate that unemployment here will continue to soar.
Virtually all of the region’s unemployed come from the private sector. Public-sector employment — that’s you — has been virtually untouched. Nine of the top 20 employers in the region are supported directly or indirectly by taxpayers. Of those nine, three are hospital systems whose revenues include Medicare dollars. For now, we’ll put them aside, because we are talking today about the traditional tax-dollar employees. The top six public sectors employ 10,579 directly. There are thousands more when we add the employees in smaller public-sector areas, the elected officials who get paid, and all the public-private partnership types whose salaries are dependent on tax dollars, but who aren’t specifically a “government employee.”
Though I have every reason to believe our region will adapt and thrive over the next decade, we must make hard decisions today on what we can afford. Our revenue streams have contracted sharply in the past three months, and we expect them to contract through the remainder of 2009. Budgets created in October 2008 are no longer realistic. Those being created now must be cut significantly.
Effective immediately, I am freezing all wages, bonuses and contractual agreements for all employees — union and nonunion, executive and staff — at 2008 calendar year levels. We will open all contract negotiations with these positions: No increased costs above the 2008 level. In addition, each employee will contribute to his or her benefits packages, including pension plans, at the same levels as your neighbors who are not public employees. In most cases, those contributions will represent a decrease in your actual take-home pay.
You can expect layoffs. Open positions will not be filled. New positions will not be created. Non-payroll expenses will be cut across the board. Such things as take-home cars, expense accounts, lavish annual events, business lunches and breakfasts will be eliminated. We will reinvent ourselves and what we do in order to provide quality services to our employers — the taxpayers of the Rock River Valley.
I know this is hard to hear. It has been three decades and perhaps more since the public sector has had to say a categorical “no” to its staff. The facts are brutal. The revenue that funds your paycheck and your benefits is declining at rates not seen since the Great Depression. Since we don’t “make anything” for sale, we rely exclusively on the money we can get from taxpayers.
We in Winnebago County offered 185 employees buyouts with incentives. We thought at least 85 would accept, but only 39 did. When we did the 2008-2009 budget, we balanced it by factoring in the buyouts and increases in revenues over 2007-2008.
We didn’t get enough county buyouts, and revenues are declining faster than whizzing down a Magic Waters slide. In the city, we have to find almost $5 million in expense cuts, and that’s just to get sort of “even.” The Rockford Park District balanced its new budget in part by laying off 11 employees — and raising fees.
In the private sector, when revenue declines, we cut expenses. Usually, the greatest expense is in people, payroll and benefits. The people who get “expense cut” are usually good people who did nothing to deserve it. The ones who keep their jobs and suck up the other cuts, like wage freezes and benefits reductions, are good people, too.
In your public-sector world, when revenue declines, you raise taxes and fees so that you can keep what you’ve got — and more — at my expense. Raising fees and taxes is not a viable option simply because the private sector can’t afford any longer to take more out of its pocket. I am confident that there will be a taxpayer revolt among your private-sector neighbors if you don’t start paying the same price they are paying.
Rest assured your neighbor — maybe your spouse, sibling, child, parent or significant other — lost a job, took a pay cut, paid more for medical insurance, lost a 401(k) match and never had a pension to begin with. I know it happened to me and those I know best. The private-sector taxpayer simply cannot afford the unrealistic public-sector expectations for wages and benefits.
Sales tax revenue has been going down for a year, and we expect that when fourth quarter 2008 numbers are calculated, it’s going to be grim. Property tax revenue streams may hold their own for a year or so, but declining home values will mean that assessments will have to come down, and that will drive down that source of revenue. We don’t have a local income tax, so there’s nothing coming from there — and state cash will be even less because with all those people out of work, hundreds of thousands of people are going to pay a lot less state income tax.
That’s the bad news for the next two years.
And, you, my much-appreciated (public) staff, must be part of the solution if our Rock River Valley is to survive today and thrive tomorrow. You haven’t had to be part of the solution for decades, and, in better times, I was happy to see you get the big raises and the benefits. (I always envied you the double-triple-dipping-gold-plated pensions, though).
I know you work hard. I know you have families to support and bills to pay. I wish I didn’t have to give you this bad news. But, I do. Together we will face this challenge, together we will remember that we are exceptional public servants doing right by our employers and our community. Together we will make the sacrifices that will ensure our community grows and prospers during the tumultuous times.
The End.
So, there you have it. Feel free to cut-and-paste and use it whenever you need to say “no” to public employees who don’t get it.
