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Contact Information:
Percy Ashcraft, County Administrator pashcraft@co.caroline.va.us (804) 633-5380
County Budget Reductions
Affect 10 Positions
Caroline County Administrator Percy Ashcraft announced Monday that 10 full-time positions have been eliminated or reduced as casualties of budget reductions for FY 2011.
Ashcraft proposed on February 23 that 14 positions would need to be eliminated in order to balance the FY 2011 Budget. After months of discussions by the Board of Supervisors, the reduction in 10 positions was inevitable to balance the FY 2011 Budget.
"It is certainly an emotional day to inform employees that we are reducing our workforce and their positions no longer exist," commented Ashcraft, who has had to recommend layoffs for the second straight budget cycle. "These decisions affect not only the employees, but their families and their overall quality of life."
The Board of Supervisors approved criteria earlier this year for Ashcraft to use in making the personnel reductions. That criteria included evaluating positions that were experiencing a decline in workload and/or responsibility due to the economic downturn; positions with responsibilities that can be combined with or consolidated into other positions or departments to reduce cost and increase organizational efficiency; and positions that have little or no impact on direct delivery of core services to County residents.
"The personnel decisions have been made to attempt to have the least impact on the delivery of services to our citizens," Ashcraft said. "We have an obligation to have a high standard of serving the public at large. We must continue to do that despite having fewer people in place."
The positions eliminated include:
- Superintendent of the Public Works Division.
- Custodian in Public Works Division.
- Administrator in Department of Planning and Community Development.
- Building/Planning Permit Technician in Department of Planning and Community Development.
- Environmental Inspector in Department of Planning and Community Development.
- Activities Coordinator in Department of Parks and Recreation.
- Account Clerk/Receptionist in County Administrator's Office.
- Public Information Officer in County Administrator's Office. This position was vacated in March.
Reduced to part-time status is the position of Tourism Manager in the Department of Economic Development and Tourism and the Administrative Secretary in Circuit Court Judge's Office.
Five positions in the Sheriff's Office that had originally been proposed for reduction received funding from three different sources and remain in the Budget. Two were restored by the Compensation Board after the actions taken by the General Assembly; two were restored by funding by the Public School Division; and the Board of Supervisors has tentatively agreed to fund the fifth one. Three of the deputies are School Resource Officers.
The reductions reduce the County's payroll by $548,532. Added to this is a furlough day employees will take on May 28 and also one percent reductions in salaries for employees earning less than $40,000 and two percent for employees earning more than $40,000.
All the personnel adjustments go into effect July 1 at the start of the new fiscal year. This reduces the County's workforce to 174 full-time and 62 part time employees, which include those working in the Constitutional Offices.
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