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9
May 2008
Budget concerns, Pt. II
Posted by Scott Spielman
at 2:02 PM | Comments
Well, I’ve learned something in the past week or so: government employees sure like their longevity pay.
I wrote a column about this outdated practice and its continuing impact on current budgets. I heard about it wherever I went this week:
“Oh, you’re the guy after my longevity pay.”
“This is something that dates back to the 1960s…”
Well, so? That doesn’t mean it’s still a good idea.
I guess I can’t blame them for wanting to keep it. If I had a bonus every year for not getting fired, I’d want to keep it to. I suppose that if children were rewarded just for going to school—not getting good grades or anything, but just showing up—they’d want to keep that, too.
My point was that it’s ironic that that government officials keep barking about how tough it is to balance a budget and yet they keep handing out these arbitrary increases. So what if you can’t do anything in the current contract. Eliminate the policy going forward, for new hires. At least then you’re not mortgaging the future. That’s what they’ve done in Canton Township, anyway….
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