Butler County Update: Raise Freeze

Cox Newspapers' intrepid reporter Josh Sweigart reports on the major development from today's Commission meeting: all county employee raises have been frozen for a review of county policy.

Commissioner Donald Dixon made the motion, holding all raises and promotions 45 days "to ensure that everybody's being compensated fairly and equitably."

Commissioners hope this will give the county time to complete a salary comparison to see if the county overpays its workers.

Commissioners worried that they are too generous, citing automatic annual increases totaling 7 percent that many employees get. Employees get another raise if they're promoted, plus an automatic 4 percent increase 120 days after the promotion.

"I don't want to be the county that pays the highest and I don't wan to be the county that pays the lowest," said Commissioner Gregory Jolivette.

I think local government ought to be examining these things and making sure that we are getting the most efficient bang for our buck without letting the quality of services to falter. I think every level of government ought to do that. It's just a shame that it has taken so long for these things to come to light and I suspect that none of the officeholders were all that aware of just how much "real" money is being spent.

To be perfectly honest, this is exactly why in the private sector, there are "rules" about salary disclosure...stories like this have an effect on morale and ultimately the quality of service that residents receive could suffer because of it.

Back to the topic at hand; as a conservative Republican, I believe that government, regardless of what level, ought to provide the goods and services required of it at the most efficient cost while maintaining an appropriate level of quality. That is a difficult balance to achieve. I think we've been rather blessed to have such high quality people working for the county and they deserve to be treated with dignity and respect.

I also think that government work is not a meritocracy, and that reform is necessary to make it as such. We ought to reward those in government service who work hard and work smart while providing the best care and service for the taxpayer.

Spending is a problem in this county and we need to reign it in...