Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle set a good example for cash-strapped governmental bodies everywhere this week when he announced his decision to suspend merit pay raises and bonuses to state employees.
Facing a budget shortfall of perhaps more than $5 billion by 2011, the state government must find reasonable ways to cut spending any way it can. Cutting discretionary pay increases and bonuses is one reasonable way.
The move may be more symbolic than anything - last year the bonuses and raises cost the state more than $4.5 million. It would take a lot of cuts like that to equal $5 billion. But budget gaps that large aren't bridged with a few big decisions, but rather a large series of "small" cuts.
Doyle said the decision "really pains" him "because this is one way that you do recognize and reward people who go above and beyond."
"There are many people in state government who are working long hours on very difficult projects and that's the purpose for these kinds of bonuses, to recognize that," Doyle said.
True, state workers may consider the freeze to be unfair. And it's certainly painful. However, their counterparts in the private sector have been experiencing wage freezes and bonus cuts for some time as the economy has contracted.
"It's just one of these things - and there will be many - you just cannot do when you are facing this kind of economic downturn," Doyle said.
A number of local governmental bodies that have felt the budget squeeze lately might do well to follow the state's lead. As an example, the Monroe City Council recently agonized over some difficult decisions it had to make for its 2009 budget. Needing to find about a half-million dollars to bring the budget within state-mandated revenue increase limits, the council cut about $15,000 in funding to the Green County Development Corporation and about $100,000 in planned sidewalk repairs and installation.
How much of those cuts could have been saved by instituting a wage freeze on the city's department heads, who are not covered by a union contract? Instead, the budget provides for department heads to receive merit-based raises up to 2 percent. Nineteen salaried positions in city government accounted for wages of just under $1 million annually as of Jan. 1, 2008. Two percent of that is about $20,000 - or enough to reinstate full funding to the city's long-term investment in the county's economic development organization.
Yes, cuts like these may be difficult for individuals. Yes, they can hurt morale in the workplace. But when the budget choices are paying for raises, or for programs and services, the taxpayers usually will choose to pay for the services.
Just a thought.
Facing a budget shortfall of perhaps more than $5 billion by 2011, the state government must find reasonable ways to cut spending any way it can. Cutting discretionary pay increases and bonuses is one reasonable way.
The move may be more symbolic than anything - last year the bonuses and raises cost the state more than $4.5 million. It would take a lot of cuts like that to equal $5 billion. But budget gaps that large aren't bridged with a few big decisions, but rather a large series of "small" cuts.
Doyle said the decision "really pains" him "because this is one way that you do recognize and reward people who go above and beyond."
"There are many people in state government who are working long hours on very difficult projects and that's the purpose for these kinds of bonuses, to recognize that," Doyle said.
True, state workers may consider the freeze to be unfair. And it's certainly painful. However, their counterparts in the private sector have been experiencing wage freezes and bonus cuts for some time as the economy has contracted.
"It's just one of these things - and there will be many - you just cannot do when you are facing this kind of economic downturn," Doyle said.
A number of local governmental bodies that have felt the budget squeeze lately might do well to follow the state's lead. As an example, the Monroe City Council recently agonized over some difficult decisions it had to make for its 2009 budget. Needing to find about a half-million dollars to bring the budget within state-mandated revenue increase limits, the council cut about $15,000 in funding to the Green County Development Corporation and about $100,000 in planned sidewalk repairs and installation.
How much of those cuts could have been saved by instituting a wage freeze on the city's department heads, who are not covered by a union contract? Instead, the budget provides for department heads to receive merit-based raises up to 2 percent. Nineteen salaried positions in city government accounted for wages of just under $1 million annually as of Jan. 1, 2008. Two percent of that is about $20,000 - or enough to reinstate full funding to the city's long-term investment in the county's economic development organization.
Yes, cuts like these may be difficult for individuals. Yes, they can hurt morale in the workplace. But when the budget choices are paying for raises, or for programs and services, the taxpayers usually will choose to pay for the services.
Just a thought.
