County announces proposed furlough plan, action would help to counter 2010 budget shortfall.

State and local governments across the country are facing daunting budget challenges this year. Camden County government is no exception. Several factors have come together to create a “perfect storm” for 2010. Increased costs, decreased revenues from taxes and fees, and the slashing of state funding by millions, has created a budget gap.
 

The state, facing a $2.2 billion deficit this year and a projected $10.7 billion deficit for 2010/2011, has slashed millions in state contributions to county and municipal budgets and seized millions of dollars in surpluses from agencies the county funds, in an effort to balance its budget on the backs of local government. In order to continue to provide the necessary services cut by state funding, the county has to make up at least some of those lost dollars and decreased revenues to meet increased costs, especially in employee benefits.
 

 Even the weather contributed to the shortfall, with record snowfalls from two major snowstorms in February, costing 1.5 million, with another additional $3 million projected costs for potholes and road repair because of the storms.
 

Camden County, which has cut taxes in each of the last three years and has reduced the county workforce by 600 employees over the past five years, must make painful decisions this year about how to close the budget gap while protecting the taxpayers and continuing to provide essential services. The county has determined these actions must be fair to employees and taxpayers alike.
 

As part of its strategy to cut costs, the county today announced a proposed furlough plan that will affect all of the county’s non-public safety employees. The plan, which has to be approved by the state’s Civil Service Commission, calls for 13 furlough days, occurring every other Friday, beginning July 2, 2010 and continuing through December 17, 2010. These furloughs, if approved, will save approximately $1.5 million.
 

“We need to make tough choices now for the 2010 budget and looking ahead to the 2011 budget, which will be even tougher,” said Camden County Freeholder Director Louis Cappelli, Jr.  “We want to protect taxpayers, but we also want a shared burden for employees, with elected officials and management sharing in the sacrifice through furloughs. That is the fair way to do it. In order to obtain these savings another way, we would have had to lay off 100 people at the beginning of the year or 200 starting mid-year.
 

“We did not want to do that to our employees and their families. Nor did we want to put 200 more individuals on the unemployment rolls in a time of already high unemployment,” Cappelli said.
 

“We have a great tradition of finding ways to save money. Our Transformation Initiative has already saved some money and has the opportunity of potential additional millions in savings over the next few years,” said Cappelli. “We have cut the workforce by 600 jobs and negotiated with our labor unions for employee contributions to benefits. We have not raised Camden County taxes since 2006. We have sold county land and looked throughout our departments and agencies for increased efficiencies on everything from energy to Web servers.

“As we continue through this year’s difficult budget process, with a final 2010 budget presented in May, we will continue to communicate what steps we are taking and why. We know that constituents are concerned both about continuing to receive services from the county and about their tax burden. We promise to have complete transparency in communicating what we are doing every step of the way,” Cappelli said.
 

“The County has an excellent reputation as a trailblazer in cutting costs and finding new ways to do things.  We understand that ability is critically important now,” Cappelli said.Camden 

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