York County Conservative Group Member Questions County Staff Increases

Saturday, October 23, 2010

A leader of the York County conservative group the Tuscany Forum has sent an email to county supervisors demanding to know why staff numbers have increased over the last five years though the county’s revenues have been on the decline.

Realtor Greg Garrett sent an email to county staff asking for the number of staff positions in the county over the last five years. When he saw that the numbers of non-education positions increased every year, he sent an email to supervisors asking (among other things), “why haven’t you kept the highest performing county employees, and let some others go to reduce the tax burden on our citizens?"

“I realize that our President has informed us that we are out of the recession, but most citizens and business people l talk to don't feel it yet,” Garrett wrote. He asked supervisors to “explain why we have increased our non-school system employee count in York County every year for the last six years.”

WYDaily talked to supervisor Tom Shepperd, who also addressed the Tuscany Forum Thursday evening, about the issue.

Shepperd feels there was a “political agenda” behind the questions, but said that at a public meeting he held earlier this year, he had gathered data on staffing over the last eight years and presented the information to people who attended.

There were 95 employees added to county staff over that time period, he said, and “a vast majority of those positions went for the Sheriff’s office and fire and life safety.”

The departments with the most staff additions over the past eight years were the Sheriff’s office with 29 hires, fire and life safety with 24 hires, general services with 12 and planning and finances with 10 positions added.

Between 2008 and 2010, the county added 29 positions and removed 11.

Due to cuts in the budget and funding over the past few years, Shepperd says, “We try not to fill positions when staff leave, and we prioritize the areas that are most important … it’s not like we hang on to people for the heck of it.”

Each year, supervisors analyze personnel during the budget process and ask staff to justify the need for all positions, he says.

Between 2008 and 2009, the county hired 25 additional personnel, four of whom were part of the Sheriff’s department, five in fire and life safety, 13 in general services and eight in community services.

According to county spokeswoman Christie Phillips, “in terms of county staffing levels, service demands and funding are the main drivers.

“Before any position is added, a full justification is submitted by the department head requesting the position. That justification is reviewed by budget staff and ultimately the County Administrator before it is included in the budget for approval by the Board of Supervisors.”

She also noted that the county is currently under a 90-day hiring freeze before any vacant position can be filled, and no new positions are being considered.

In his email, Garrett wrote, “I know that your job is a difficult one, and no one likes to lay employees off, but the times we live in dictate that cuts are needed.”

“York County is a wonderful place to live,” said Shepperd. “That’s why we spend money on what we spend it on.”