Deseret News | S.L. County workers unlikely to see raises

Reader comments
S.L. County workers unlikely to see raises

John | 5:12 p.m. Oct. 7, 2009

Big deal. My company did this in the private sector and no one wrote a news article about it. Bottom line is, no one is getting raises right now, and everyone is experiencing increases in insurance premiums.

Once the job market returns to an employee's market, watch out.

Re: John | 5:37 p.m. Oct. 7, 2009

Same thing here. While this may be a tough blow to those employees, at least they have jobs.

peter | 6:36 p.m. Oct. 7, 2009

I'm curious if directors of the different government agencies also didn't receive raises. Better yet, did they give themselves a pay cut? Or is that too much to ask?

Comments continue below

MALLIE JOWELL | 6:11 a.m. Oct. 8, 2009

MY QUESTION IS THIS. IF THESE CUTS THE GOVERNMENT IS DOING CAN BE DONE. WHY WERE THEY NOT DONE TO BEGIN WITH? THOSE ARE OUR TAX DOLLARS AT WORK AND THE GOVERNMENT HAS BEEN SPENDING LIKE KIDS IN A CANDY STORE FOR YEARS. BUT NOW THAT EVERYBODY IS IN THE SAME BOAT PEOPLE ARE PAYING MORE ATTENTION. GOVERNMENT WAS NOT MEANT TO TAKE CARE OF PEOPLE. WE SHOULD TAKE CARE OF OURSELVES. AND DEPEND LESS ON GOVERNMENT. I TELL YOU WHAT WHEN ALL THIS IS SAID AND DONE, AND THE FUNDS ARE THERE AGAIN. WILL THEY GO BACK TO THIER OUT OF CONTROL SPENDING? I AM WATCHING AND HAVE BEEN FOR YEARS NOW. SO NOT IF I CAN DO ANYTHING ABOUT IT.

Boo, wah! | 7:01 a.m. Oct. 8, 2009

No wrote an article about state employees going for years without a meaningful raise while Salt Lake County salaries jumped higher and higher. No one wrote an article about House Speaker Dave Clark slashing health care and sick leave benefits for state workers 3 years ago. No one is writing articles about Dave Clark's plans to secretly (yeah, he can do that and he's proven it in the past) cut retirement benefits for state employees.

OK, the Des News did do articles about state workers forced to twist their lives and daycare so that Goverbassador Huntsman could have an unproductive mandatory 4 day work week.

State workers routinely suffer first in times of lean budgets. Why is it that a single year without a pay raise for county workers is a headline?

Also | 7:33 a.m. Oct. 8, 2009

Same for us. Everyone in our company, owners to part timers, took a 5% pay cut this last year and will probably get no increase in pay next year. Our insurance premiums also went up and furloughs were put in to place. There is no reason why government workers (and teachers) shouldn't experience the same thing the rest of us are experiencing.

Thanks Mayor | 7:47 a.m. Oct. 8, 2009

Mayor Corroon has surrounded himself with the most incompetent fiscal staff in County history. They are arrogant and spend every dime the County has and then some and as a result the County is in this financial mess. It is an outrage, yet his fiscal staff walk the County halls like they are celebrities and have no clue what they are doing. No politician has added more bureaucracy and inefficiency to County government than Corroon has and for some reason the tax payers love him.

To thanks mayor | 8:28 a.m. Oct. 8, 2009

You are obviously bitter. You are also wrong. Congrats on the daily double.

Whiggy | 8:39 a.m. Oct. 8, 2009

All previous comments ignore the fact that these cuts will endanger the public! The lack of money to pay for salaries will lead to vacant posistions in corrections, law enforcement, and prosecution. This will obviously lead to more criminals remaining on the street because they will not be prosecuted, and even if they are, there will be no jail space to house them. Guess what, the public can either pay by paying the salaries or pay as victims of crime!

Re: Whiggy | 9:15 a.m. Oct. 8, 2009

You forgot to mention that the entire state, no country, will fall into anarchy and then nuclear war will break out and the world will end.

Agreed | 9:48 a.m. Oct. 8, 2009

I agree with Whiggy. If there are going to be cuts in the county, make sure they come from administration. Don't cut the wages or benefits of the public safety employees. The deputies that are out keeping us safe from criminals do not need to be cut. Thdy do an amazing job for the county and we can't afford, as a society, to lose them. They already receive wages far below what they deserve. Cut from administration, not from the public safety system.

DR Don | 10:40 a.m. Oct. 8, 2009

Isn't it odd, how people never want to make public service cuts that will affect them personally but cuts that affect others are perfectly fine?

Even though I drive, I suggest that the county save money by not plowing residential and industrial area streets this winter. Even though I'm a homeowner, I suggest that the county reduce waste pickup to a bi-weekly schedule this winter - cold temperatures will keep the odors and vermin under control and so avoid a health hazard. I suggest that the county make a concerted effort to waste less fuel by mandating that ALL county vehicles, including public safety vehicles, turn off their engines when idling and institute disciplinary penalties for violators.

cbird | 10:41 a.m. Oct. 8, 2009

HERE! HERE!

Swirling towards the hole | 11:07 a.m. Oct. 8, 2009

RE Whiggy: The poorly paid county workers will jump ship where? To the state, where wages are even worse? We're all taking it in the shorts and the employers (government employers include), are lovin' it.

Re: Also | 1:08 p.m. Oct. 8, 2009

Leave teachers out of this. Teachers got laid off this last school year, class sizes went up and guess what... we got a pay cut in my district.

Re: Also | 1:35 p.m. Oct. 8, 2009

I agree with the post at 1:08. Teachers this see saw pay cuts, increased insurance premiums, and increased class loads. I know because I'm one of them. Grateful for my job and love it, but please don't assume that we're sitting fat and happy above everyone else. As a state worker my husband has also seen pay cuts and drastically increased insurance premiums.

Whatever | 1:59 p.m. Oct. 8, 2009

Yea, yea the government employees are overpaid... It's the constant diatribe spewed out by the talk radio pundits. Have a brain, don't just listen to the Rush Limbaughs of the world. Would you like to raise a family on a police officer's meager salary?You know full well that the fire, police, and other services are something you have a critical need for. So go ahead and jam us county employyees and see how this story turns out.

mike | 3:00 p.m. Oct. 8, 2009

I work for the state we have been taking cuts for 2 years. I was thinking about going to the county. Not Now

wallofvoodoo | 3:57 p.m. Oct. 8, 2009

While it is unfortunate that anyone is getting pay cuts, why it makes news is questionable. My insurance rates are going up, & I'm not getting a raise. Guess what? My company isn't being features as a story about how horrible life is. Get over it SLCO.

Hey Whiggy | 6:42 p.m. Oct. 8, 2009

just curious what you do for a living. All your comments on the Desnews always call for more spending of tax payer money. Please clarify why? It obviously is to benefit you,

Welcome to life | 11:02 p.m. Oct. 8, 2009

We all need to get real and take a break from dissing the government at every turn. Here's the reality check. If it's to be - it's up to me. Each of us has got to do their own part to make sure that we do things in the most efficient manner, and not cause problems. If there is a problem that you can help lawfully solve without intervention of the government - by all means do it! Don't wait for someone to tell you to get up and go. Why wait?

There has been evidence over and over again of how the American people pick themselves up after a tremendous fall, and become better for it. This is one of those times that you can write the history the way that you think it should be written - not as a tragedy, but as a glorious miracle for all to read about in the future.

John C | 7:14 a.m. Oct. 9, 2009

I could hardly get through reading this article before my eyes started to tear up.
Then I read the comments and whiggy and the dooms day scenario, the tears started to flow, then what ever threw in the real facts about government employees.
I can't go on.... find a tax ro raise or a fee to increase to stop this depplorable condition.
We won't have enough money to even buy the shovels to lean on, what a terrible thing this recession is.

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