Dougherty County Finance Committee makes tough decisions to balance the budget
The Dougherty County finance committee approved a 12 day unpaid holiday schedule for all county employees.
The committee also agreed to give themselves the same percentage pay cut as the county employees. The finance committee is also asking judges and constitutional officers to voluntarily reduce their salary or county funded supplements by 4.6%, the same amount county employees will take with the unpaid holidays.
The committee unanimously voted to transfer $3.6 million dollars from the reserves to the general fund to help balance the budget, and committee member Lamar Hudgins says they can’t afford to do that again. “This is just what we’ve got to do this year to reduce the expenditures as much as we can. There’s nothing about it that feels good. But it’s the reality of life right now with the economic times were in” says Hudgins.
Officials say county employees participating in the pension plan don’t need to worry because it’s funded at 93%. Over the past ten years the county contribution has increased 160% and those who qualify to participate can be confident their pension is still intact.
All of the changes are still pending final approval from the Dougherty County Commissioners.
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