Okaloosa backs off employee furlough proposal as it sets tax rate

“It’s the right thing to do,” said Commission Chairman Wayne Harris after the board’s 4-1 vote.

Commissioner Bill Roberts voted no.

The board directed County Administrator Jim Curry to forego the proposed five-day furlough, a move that would have saved the county’s general fund nearly $500,000.

Instead, money will come from two other areas of the budget. Curry will pull $200,000 in sales tax savings on materials purchased to build the new judicial center and another $300,000 by using the court information technology fund to purchase equipment for the judicial center.

Commissioner John Jannazo praised those alternatives. He also suggested saving $100,000 by eliminating commissioners’ gas stipends and taking away county cell phones from employees who make $50,000 or more.

“Nobody misses a day of work,” said Jannazo, who strongly opposed furloughs. “Nobody gets a pay cut, and it’s pretty transparent.”

Commissioner James Campbell called the gas stipend and cell phone cuts “nitpicky” and unnecessary.

At the start of budget deliberations in the spring, Curry had proposed a five-day furlough for all employees who do not work for constitutional officers to help offset the county’s $5.2 million shortfall in tax revenue. Each furlough would have represented a 1.92 percent salary reduction per employee.

Because the county cannot require constitutional officers to place its employees on the same five-day furlough, Curry directed them to take an equivalent amount of money from their budgets. Those cuts total nearly $500,000 for the sheriff, tax collector, property appraiser supervisor of elections and clerk of courts.

Thus far, none of the constitutional officers have opted to enact furloughs. The Sheriff’s Office will present its budget to commissioners on Tuesday.

Roberts has opposed furloughs from the outset but voted against Tuesday’s measure because he said the board should have talked with each constitutional officer about the county’s decision to forego furloughs.

“My biggest problem with it was … they went along and they did what we requested,” he said. “If we’re going to do it this way, let’s get them in here and let’s do it face to face.”

Jannazo said the board ultimately was making the same kind of cuts it asked each constitutional officer to make, and no further explanation was needed.

“I’d rather take the wrath of a couple constitutionals than 200,000 citizens,” he said. “They’re big boys, they’ll figure it out.”

Harris agreed. He said the board found the necessary savings just like the constitutional officers did in their budgets.

Curry thanked the commissioners on behalf of the employees.

“I think they are going to be very appreciative of the board’s efforts,” he said.

Commissioners also set the county’s tentative millage for fiscal year 2011 at 3.28, or $3.28 for every $1,000 of taxable property value. That is the same property tax rate as this year.

The board will hold its next budget workshop at 1 p.m. Tuesday at the county courthouse in Crestview.