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More jobs to be cut in Pasco County

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By KEVIN WIATROWSKI | The Tampa Tribune

Published: July 2, 2009

Pasco County's government workers are bracing themselves for layoffs.

In a memo to his staff, County Administrator John Gallagher announced preparations for cutting jobs as the county tries to close a $35.7 million gap in its 2009-10 budget.

"This is a whole new process for all of us, as I told the employees," Gallagher said todau.

The layoffs apply to workers employed by the Board of County Commissioners. The county's other elected officials control their own staffing.

The proposed layoff process will give priority to length of service, favorable evaluations and special skills, according to the memo circulated among county workers. About two-thirds of the county's 2,100 workers have served 10 years or less.

The county still plans to offer early retirement to those interested in it, Gallagher said.

"That's about the only one of our options that's still being explored," he said.

County commissioners are likely to approval the layoff procedures when they meet July 14. Layoffs could take effect with the new budget, but there is some flexibility in that in some cases, Gallagher said.

But regardless of the final budget outcome, jobs will be lost, Gallagher said. A more precise picture of the scope of the job losses should become clear after the county's first public hearing on the new budget in September, he said.

Following their budget workshop early last month, some commissioners suggested the budget ax could fall hardest on secretaries and other support personnel.

As they look ahead to years of reduced budgets, county commissioners are trying to determine exactly what role the county government should play in its citizens' lives. Polls show strong support for basic services such as police and fire protection and less for libraries, animal control and social services.

For a county government that has been in growing for decades, the current budget situation is proving a difficult pill to swallow. County official got the first bitter taste of things to come last year when the drop in construction the deep cuts in the permitting and inspection offices. Many of those workers found jobs elsewhere in the county, however.

This time around, that's unlikely as commissioners look at cutting everyone from librarians to bus drivers to firefighters. While some of those cuts will eliminate vacant positions, others will not – hence the proposed system for deciding who will be laid off.

The number and positions cut will depend on the final shape of the new budget. In their workshop last month, commissioners weighed cuts to county programs against raising the county's property tax rate.

With another deficit projected for 2011, more staff cuts are possible.

"Obviously, everything we're looking at is subject to change like a moving target," said Barbara De Simone, the county's personnel director.

Reporter Kevin Wiatrowski can be reached at (813) 731-8168 or kwiatrowski@tampatrib.com.

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