During a special session Monday night, the Kosciusko County Council voted to repeal a 7-percent pay cut for county employees.
During the meeting, Council President Harold Jones recapped the events that had taken place since the last time the council met.
When the council met Sept. 10, it unanimously approved to cut wages of all county employees, with several exceptions, by 7 percent.
Monday's vote repealed that. The wage cuts were set to take place Jan. 1.
Jones said that during the county commissioners meeting Sept. 15, it became clear that the county's rainy day fund could be used to close the gap in the county's budget deficit.
For the 2010 budget, the county faced a $3.5 million deficit.
"Our projected income for 2010 is just under $4 million," said council member Tom Anglin, noting a drop in revenue for the county.
In efforts to lower the deficit, the council took $1.5 million out of both its Economic Development Income Tax fund and Capital Development Fund. That still left the county with a $500,000 shortfall
By cutting salaries countywide, the county would have saved $652,000.
"It was not an easy decision," said Jones of the council's Sept. 10 pay cut move. "We talked about layoffs. One reason we missed the rainy day fund is that it isn't a revenue stream.
"I do want to remind everyone this does not balance our budget," said Jones. "We're still not meeting the needs of our county."
Jones said there is about $2.6 million in the rainy day fund and he was unsure how much of that the council would take.
"We may take more to put money back in the other funds," said Jones.
Anglin made the motion to repeal the pay cut and councilman Bob Sanders seconded the motion that was passed unanimously.
"I think this is a band-aid approach," said councilman Larry Teghtmeyer. "There is still a lot of work to be done. We'll be looking at the 2011 budget in just a few short months."
Jones mentioned that 65 percent of the county's budget comes in the form of salaries and wages.
"We've trimmed the other 35 percent as much as we can," said Jones.
"We didn't want anyone to lose their jobs," said Sanders. "It was really an attempt to keep jobs. I'm sorry to hear so many people are upset about it."
Kosciusko County Sheriff Rocky Goshert, whose salary was exempt from being cut because he signed a contract previously, said he appreciated the effort of the council and knew using the rainy day fund is not a solution.
"We all understand there is a shortage of funds," said Goshert, who took issue with how the pay cut was arrived to. "We would like to have been told this was happening."
Goshert said his department went back last week to cut more from its budget. Goshert said $70,000 was cut from things like equipment, fuel and from the jail.
The sheriff acknowledged that the budget issues may continue for the next couple of years.
"We will look at every way we can to save money," said Goshert.
Goshert said that capping employment numbers and not replacing people when they leave may be looked at in the future.
Dennis Pletcher, county highway superintendent, said despite the pay cut his employees never begrudged the council.
"We're all public servants," said Pletcher. "There was never any talk of a work slow down or anything like that. We'll do our jobs everyday."
"My people feel much better," said Pletcher. "Some employees were going to have to find new jobs. Even with that not one of our employees ever begrudged the council.
"Our people are our most important asset," added Pletcher."
