By Teresa Auch Schultz, Post-Tribune staff writer
Gov. Mitch Daniels makes sense when he says it would be best for all public employees in Indiana to forego a raise next year, some local officials say -- but don't expect it to happen.
The governor announced earlier this week that he thinks the move would be best because few tax payers in the private sector will get raises, so public employees should show solidarity and also help ease the tax burden. Reports have already announced that the state budget is going to fall short by almost $1 billion, which has led Daniels to look at possible cuts to the state budget.
Valparaiso Mayor Jon Costas said that although he agrees with the governor in part, Valparaiso has already managed to cut $140,000 from its 2009 budget without having to take away raises.
"I think he's wise; we have to be really careful in the next year or two," Costas said. "(But) we will stick with the 2009 budget, which we feel pretty strongly about."
Costas also pointed out that elected officials in the city had agreed to not accept a raise. The mayor did say, though, that the city would consider a pay freeze for the 2010 budget if it needed to.
Porter County Councilman Dan Whitten had mixed feelings about the governor's announcement, saying that he agreed with the concept of withholding raises when the economy is doing poorly. Whitten had voted against raises for county employees for next year's budget. The raises were approved.
"When we ask people to tighten up their belts, I think we need to do the same," he said.
However, Whitten was offended by the governor asking local governments to cut their budgets even more, when the state has already put financial pressures on them through the cap on property taxes, he said. Also, by making the announcement so late in the year, there's no time for the Porter County Council to go back and change the budget, Whitten said. Most of the council members are out of town on vacation.
"I think a lot of what the governor does is, quite frankly, grandstanding," Whitten said.
Local governments could also save money if they were paid their tax money on time, Terry Hufford, president of the Portage Township School Board, said. A majority of the taxing units in Northwest Indiana have had to take out loans because tax dollars were delayed and then they have to pay interest on those loans.
Hufford said that if the state made certain it was on time with payments, giving out raises wouldn't be a big deal.
Hufford also said that he thinks the focus should be on accountability and making sure employees are earning their pay, instead of just looking at it as raises as a whole.