Nearly 1-in-5 Oneida County employees – at least 310 workers — are scheduled to get raises of 10 percent or more in Oneida County Executive Anthony Picente’s proposed 2009 budget, an O-D comparison of this year’s and next year’s budgets found.I'm speechless . . . well . . . maybe not . . .
Picente pointed to what he called a brain drain from Upstate New York as young, educated people leave. He said he wanted to make it possible for good people to continue working in county government.It's nice that Mr. Picente wants to keep talented people with county government by paying them more. But the reason why there is a "brain drain" from Upstate New York, especially in Oneida County, is because government has driven out all the good private sector jobs by over taxation.
“This goes back to the whole global idea of keeping people here,” he said. “We have some of the most talented people in these positions, and they want to do government for a living.”
Household incomes in Oneida County are already significantly below the average found elsewhere. It should follow that government pay locally should also be below the average found elsewhere.
Hiking county salaries will require more taxation . . . which will drive more people in the private sector out of business . . . and further reduce household incomes and population.
If this area is to economically survive and start growing again, government must shrink. With what appears to be on the horizon for everyone, government employees will be thankful to just have their jobs.
4 comments:
Someone was on WIBX talking up the pay raises - going on about how the county is the biggest employer in the county, and the huge economic impact this raise would have. I have two problems with that. One, if the county is Oneida County's biggest employer, we're totally screwed. Two, if the county employs such a large percentage of people that a pay raise for 20% of them is going to have a "huge economic impact", we're totally screwed.
I guess we're totally screwed.
This begs the question: What came first, the Chicken or the egg? Will the 10% raise in some County worker’s wages prove to be a deterrent to “brain drain,” or simply will it be a ploy to reward loyal politically correct associates? I wonder if these employees are a result of past “brain drain”. Let’s face it this exodus out of Central New York is not a recent phenomenon. The question may be; have all of the really sharp individuals already vacated the Mohawk Valley for areas that will provide career “greener pastures?” Could it be perhaps that we are operating our governments with individuals who may be the “least common denominators?” In that case, the County Executive just may be rewarding the wrong individuals in order to obtain the results he says we need.
I think giving huge raises to the social program workers is the wrong idea.
That will guarantee that the poor will stay poor, or else these workers will lose their pay checks.
The County wanted to get on the band wagon first with the double digit budget tax increases. So, maybe when the State and Federal taxes along with local taxes, sewer and water increases all come on all this will be like old news. Next up, put the tax back on the full value of gas purchases. Notice the ones that get a COLA and a pay raise besides. What business today offers a COLA? That my friends needs to go, along with 19 Legislators.
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