Obama could learn a lesson from Ogle cuts
Friday’s announcement that agencies within the Obama administration may face spending freezes or cuts up to 5 percent is good news for taxpayers worried about the massive federal budget deficit.
We’re glad that President Barack Obama wants to tighten the country’s fiscal belt.
He could learn a lesson from budget hawks in Ogle County.
So could other area board and council members – and hard-pressed taxpayers – who seek a model for how units of government can survive the recession.
We offer the example of Ogle County’s sheriff, who just won a 1-year wage-freeze concession from his deputies – not an easy chore, as they are represented by the Fraternal Order of Police.
But now, with Ogle deputies agreeing to forgo a 3 percent wage hike in their union contract, Sheriff Greg Beitel may be in position to reduce the number of proposed layoffs, which would be good for both employees and taxpayers.
About the same time, the Oregon City Council announced it had decided not to give raises to city employees this fiscal year, which ends in less than 6 months.
Caution about the current budget prompted Finance Commissioner Ken Williams to hold the line on salaries – a wise move.
And, earlier this year, the Oregon School Board decided to freeze the salaries of its eight administrators, even though teachers still collected their contractual raise.
At the time, Board President Tom Peters remarked: “Given the state of the economy, we hope other governing bodies will follow suit.”
Note to President Obama: See, it is possible to hold the line on salaries when tax revenues tumble, taxpayers are losing their jobs, and homes are being foreclosed upon.
The federal government, which overspent its fiscal year 2009 budget by a record $1.42 trillion, has long had trouble with this concept. So have some local units of government, whose board members see nothing wrong with granting employee raises in a recession.
Candidate Obama promised change we could believe in. Holding the line on government spending during rocky economic times is a change we’d definitely like to see – nationally and locally.
