By Brandi Watters, Herald Bulletin Staff Writer
ANDERSON, Ind. — The Madison County Government Center, or courthouse, is closing for two days over the next few weeks in response to the County Council’s decision to force employees to take unpaid time off.
On Friday, the Madison County Board of Commissioners announced that it had ordered the building closed on Nov. 25 and Dec. 18 in an attempt to help county offices cope with the unexpected furloughs.
On Nov. 16, the County Council, facing a $280,000 budget deficit, ordered that all county employees paid through the general fund take four days off without pay before the end of the year.
This includes all workers in the county building, sheriff’s deputies and corrections officers.
In response, county commissioners attempted to find a solution for county managers dealing with sudden scheduling conflicts.
“We just polled office holders,” County Commissioner Paul Wilson said of the decision.
County Clerk Ludy Watkins said the building closing may make it easier for office managers to cope with scheduling issues but Patty Mauck, deputy auditor, said the furloughs must be taken by Dec. 19 to make the final pay period of the year.
“It needs to be out of the 2009 budget.”
Mauck is happy that the building will close, making it easier for officeholders to schedule the two remaining furlough days, but still wishes the County Council hadn’t taken so long to make a decision about the furloughs, building closings, and budget cuts.
“It would have been a big help if they’d have done it early enough where they could have scheduled it with more days. It would have made it a lot easier for the office holders for everybody to implement everybody taking off their four days.”
Mauck said county employees will suffer financially during the holiday season due to the furloughs, and the council’s last-minute decision.
All four furlough days must be taken by Dec. 19, which means that each employee will lose four days of pay in a single month.
“I’m sure there are some where they are a single parent with just one income, it’s going to be hard for them,” Mauck said.
She wishes the council had made a decision sooner, giving employees time to spread furlough days out over time instead of taking a hit to the paycheck as heating bills rise and holiday gift-buying begins.
Mauck said council members were aware of the looming budget deficit, but chose not to act.
The budget shortfall projections provided by an independent firm were provided to the council in September, she said.
“They knew. I just really don’t know what their excuse was for not going ahead or jumping in.”
County Councilman Larry Crenshaw said he is ashamed by the council’s delayed action.
“Our negligence as a council has been months ago.”
“It’s pretty sad to tell the public we can’t borrow anymore money and we’re flat broke and we can’t make payroll,” Crenshaw said.
“We did not react quick enough as a council, even though warning shots were made, even though strong words, debate, banging on a desk happened. Now these employees are going to suffer. I’m ashamed we’ve got to do that. I know there’s other ways we could have done it.”
Councilman John Bostic isn’t ashamed, and said the budget review process is meant for debate, even though a decision about the 2009 deficit wasn’t made until mid-November.
Bostic said he was unwilling to address the issue because he believed the county could — and should — have borrowed from the rainy day fund, which contains about $700,000, he said.
Though he voted in favor of imposing furloughs, Bostic said he didn’t support them. “I didn’t think we needed to do it.”
Bostic said he now wishes he’d made a motion to borrow from the rainy day fund.
As for the county workers, Watkins said her office will cope as necessary, in spite of the hardships caused by delayed action by the council.
“I’ve had people tell me ‘I’m not going to be able to make my house payments.’ They have Christmas layaway for kids that they won’t be able to pick up,” she said.
Though the building closing and furloughs will be difficult, Watkins is confident in her employees’ abilities. “It’ll be terrible, we’ll be flooded when we come back but we’ll all pitch in and get the job done.”
Contact Brandi Watters: 640-4847, brandi.watters@heraldbulletin.com
