brandi.watters@heraldbulletin.com
ANDERSON - Over the next 36 business days, county employees will be required to take four days off without pay.
The mandatory furloughs were approved by the Madison County Council Monday night and represent an 11 percent drop in pay for county employees between now and the 31st of December.
County council members needed to cut $280,000 from the general fund budget immediately or face the possibility of closing the county building or not being able to pay employees at all.
Councilman Gary Gustin proposed the furloughs after calculating that it costs the county $70,000 to pay all general fund employees for one day.
The council made the unanimous decision after heated debate that saw Republican Councilman Larry Crenshaw and Democratic Councilman John Bostic arguing over the appropriate means of addressing budget concerns.
Crenshaw said the county was in crisis and might be at risk for having to close the entire county building for several weeks in December if budget buts weren't made.
"You've got to cut operating cost or cut jobs," Crenshaw shouted.
"If we need it, we borrow from ourselves," Bostic insisted.
The argument came after a handful county departments heads offered to cut their own budgets, giving the general fund over $500,000 for the remainder of the year.
At the start of the meeting, the county was facing a more than $800,000 deficit for the remainder of 2009.
With department cuts, a deficit of $280,000 was left.
County Auditor Kathy Stoops-Wright said the county still has two paydays till the end of the year. Each payday costs the county $1.2 million.
As the meeting neared its third hour without a decision on the budget deficit, county employee Jill Dorff begged the council to make a decision now rather than making employees wait, wondering if they'd be paid in December.
"You can't do a gamble ... We need the comfort of knowing. You have to make a decision .... We implore you to make a decision."