Murray County workers lose pay for 8 holidays

Hoping to make ends meet, or at least come closer, Murray County, Ga., Commissioner Greg Hogan has told the county's 240 full-time workers they won't be paid for eight of their 11 holidays next year.

"We're very close with our money ... so that's why these furlough days have come about," Hogan said at a Wednesday public meeting where he passed a 2012 budget of $15.3 million to match declining revenues.

The holiday-pay cuts will amount to a 3 percent pay decrease for all employees, saving about $200,000, county financial officer Tommy Parker said.

Parker said Hogan himself will forgo 10 percent of his $98,000 salary.

"So he's taking about a $10,000 cut," Parker said Friday.

In the meeting, Hogan also said he will not reappoint County Manager Tom Starnes or fill that position. Starnes and Hogan were among 15 candidates for the sole commissioner post that Hogan won in June.

Counting benefits, eliminating the position will save $75,000, Parker said.

Neither Starnes nor Hogan could be reached for comment Friday.

One employee who will lose that holiday pay said doing so is better than the county having to lay off workers.

"It hurts a little bit," said Karen Crump, a 24-year employee in the tax commissioner's office. "I'm not happy about it, but I'm willing to do it so everybody can keep their job and keep the county running."

Crump said the county is allowing workers to take four hours at a time from paychecks over a period of time, so as not to burden their personal budgets.

"We've had to do this in the past," she said, recalling that workers had six unpaid holidays in the year before last.

Crump's boss, longtime Tax Commissioner Charlotte Keener, voluntarily will lose her holiday pay, even though she could be exempted because her salary is prescribed by law.

"I don't know any other way for them [county officials] to cut the budget," Keener said. "Do I want this to happen? Of course not. Nobody wants money taken away from them. But I'm doing my part."

Parker said the cuts still won't quite balance the budget, and he projects the county will have to use more than $582,000 from its reserve operating funds to cover falling revenue.

He said the recession has been very hard on the county. Revenues are $1 million lower than in 2008, when the slump began, he said.

"It has affected just about every revenue stream we have," Parker said. "You wouldn't expect landfill host fees to go down, but even that has been affected. Ours has dropped 20 percent since industries are not running."