YAKIMA -- Yakima County elected officials will not receive pay raises next year, a stance that may be extended to nonunion employees too, as county finances continue to go south.
County commissioners are signaling they would like unionized workers to consider doing without pay increases when bargaining begins later this year.
Contracts for all but two of the county's 15 bargaining units expire this year and new ones must be negotiated. One of the 13 contracts allows negotiation for wages and benefits in 2011.
The county has about 1,200 employees.
Capping elected pay will avoid a repeat of the criticism when commissioners approved 2.5 percent 2010 pay increases for the six elected officials last December while facing budget cuts.
Commissioners said they haven't as yet set a wage policy for nonunion employees, but a continuing erosion of revenue and more red ink next year -- potentially more than $1.5 million -- has them thinking about limiting employee compensation.
"We have to live within our means," Chairman Mike Leita said this week. "We aren't going to the taxpayers and asking them to contribute more when they are in the same place we are."
The county has laid off 36 people since the end of 2009, including 10 last month as the county imposed an across-the-board 2.5 percent budget cut to fill a $1.3 million hole, the first mid-year budget cut in 17 years.
But the hole has gotten bigger since then, growing by $700,000 through the end of this year, a result of a host of revenue declines. The largest losses are in sales tax and investment earnings, accounting for $370,000.
The county also is seeing more senior citizens apply for property tax exemptions that will push down revenues from that source by $67,000.
Union representatives are taking a wait-and-see approach.
Wayne Johnson, business representative for Teamsters Local 760 of Yakima, which represents corrections, security and sheriff's employee groups, said he is aware of the county's budget problems. He said he is waiting for more information before bargaining begins for new contracts.
Those talks aren't expected until September, when the 2011 budget will come into clearer focus.
Representatives of other labor groups could not be reached for comment.
Commissioner Kevin Bouchey said the county is looking for ways to preserve services rather than lay off more workers.
The county is in the same boat as the city of Yakima, which must cover a $2.2 million gap in the city's budget for next year.
Commissioners will use reserves to balance the rest of this year's budget. But those reserves must be repaid over two years under a standing county policy, adding $350,000 to next year's budget picture.
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