No 3% Solution In Hillsborough - Granite Grok

No 3% Solution In Hillsborough

The Hillsborough County delegation may be prepared to hand out a 3% rate increase to county employees and I’m trying to decide when it’s a good idea to ask taxpayers who are potentially unemployed, may not have seen a raise in two years themsleves or have had to take a cut to pay or hours, to fork over a 3% increase to government employees in this economy?

So far I’m not finding one.

Nationally over the past 12 months the consumer price index has only risen 0.9%, with the added consideration that energy costs are down 1.4% and food rose only 0.2%.  Unemployment overall in Hillsborough county is higher than the state average of 6.4%, currently somewhere between 7 and 7.4%.   And inflation in 2009 actually went down so you might be wondering where the fire is that a 3% raise is meant to put out.  There isn’t one.  Government employees just expect to get raises and democrats like to hand them out.  That’s about it. 

My postion here has nothing to do with whether or not county employees are hard working.   Plenty of them probably are.  But it is imperative that the government of the people at every level reflect the limitations of those same people to sustain the staff established to undertake those few and limited tasks which are required for the general welfare.  When it becomes evident that they have exceeded our mandate or entered into agreements which have or will become fiscally untenable, the officials charged with representing the taxpayers interest must endeavor to introduce savings and efficiencies that limit the fiscal impact of those tasks before they overcome the ability of reasonable men and women to sustain them. 

Sometimes simply having a job has to be enough.  And when it’s not, well I think we know where the door is.  With unemployment over 7% replacing good people with good people who will work for less  won’t be terribly difficult.  I realize that’s not what government employees are used to but then, why not, the rest of us are.  And there really are plenty of people who would be happy just to have work.

And you should know that the committee charged with the decision to raise the county payroll by 3% is overrun with democrats.  It has been their habit at the state level to spend well in excess of the economic conditions required to support them.  (look to 23% more government during a recession for evidence of this).  Should they desire to continue this trend at the county level the people of Hillsborough will have yet another fiscal burden to bear at the hands of democrat party rule, a burden the people are encouraged to relieve themselves of at the ballot box this November.

But you don’t have to wait until November.  Let them know now before they decide to use your income as a parting gift.

Cross posted at NH Insider

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