"TUNICA COUNTY, Miss (Fox13) - A less than happy new year is coming for employees of Tunica County, as they expect pay cuts in 2015. Some of the cuts could affect public safety.
County supervisors say it's a five-percent pay cut across the board. The cuts are stiff enough that some say they are worried employees will go elsewhere.
Tunica County Supervisor Cedric Burnett said the cuts are stiff enough to hurt pubic safety.
'Well it wouldn't be good for the sheriff's department,' Supervisor Burnett said. 'We are lower paid than the City of Memphis and Shelby County (in Tennessee) and Desoto County (in northern Mississippi) so we would lose a lot of people to the north and east.'
Supervisor Burnett says he is the only supervisor who voted against the five-percent salary and pay cut.
'I would say it could have been if we decreased salaried employees through attrition from the beginning of the term,' he said.
Supervisor James Dunn said that he disagrees with Supervisor Burnett, saying the cuts were necessary and if the county did not cut pay it would have to cut jobs due to a decrease in gaming revenue.
But, Supervisor Burnett said the county wasted millions of dollars on things like community centers that were not needed.
'Yeah we wasted money in the past but we could afford to waste money in the past,' Supervisor Burnett said. 'Eight years ago we had a lot of money so we could waste a lot of money but now you don't have a lot of money so you shouldn't.'
Supervisor Dunn said the county may still have to cut jobs if the pay cuts are not enough, but it's unclear how many positions would be affected."
End of transcript.
Begin rebuttal:
"TUNICA COUNTY, Miss (Fox13) - A less than happy new year is coming for employees of Tunica County, as they expect pay cuts in 2015. Some of the cuts could affect public safety.
County supervisors say it's a five-percent pay cut across the board. The cuts are stiff enough that some say they are worried employees will go elsewhere. Tunica County is overstaffed by about 50% so says the Stennis Report. You may find our post on 3 Feb 2014 interesting on this matter. If any employee would like to earn more money by going elsewhere, that would be good for Tunica County and for the employee.
Tunica County Supervisor Cedric Burnett said the cuts are stiff enough to hurt public safety. This statement is made of emotion and not facts. Our Sheriff's Department is overstaffed. So, again, if employees want to get higher paying employment elsewhere, this would be good for them and good for Tunica County.
'Well it wouldn't be good for the sheriff's department,' Supervisor Burnett said. 'We are lower paid than the City of Memphis and Shelby County (in Tennessee) and Desoto County (in northern Mississippi) so we would lose a lot of people to the north and east.' Again, the Sheriff's Department is overstaffed. If employees want more pay, it is their right to seek a higher paying job. I have not researched the validity of Burnett's statement about pay in other counties. However, perhaps the pay in the locations Burnett mentions have higher taxes to support higher pay for their employees. The fact that we had falling revenue and hardly any taxes is a failing of Burnett and others before 1 Jan 2012.
Supervisor Burnett says he is the only supervisor who voted against the five-percent salary and pay cut. Yes, this is true which shows Burnett's complete lack of understanding of the financial problems we are facing.
'I would say it could have been if we decreased salaried employees through attrition from the beginning of the term,' he said. Oh now he says this. How about decreasing some of the huge salaries we are paying. Has this guy even read the Stennis Report? News flash Burnett: One third of our employees are overpaid. Why haven't you, as a sitting Supervisor, suggested reducing those salaries?
Supervisor James Dunn said that he disagrees with Supervisor Burnett, saying the cuts were necessary and if the county did not cut pay it would have to cut jobs due to a decrease in gaming revenue.
But, Supervisor Burnett said the county wasted millions of dollars on things like community centers that were not needed. This statement is ridiculous. Firstly, are you talking about the Robinsonville Community Center? The RCC was and is needed as our population growth has been in North Tunica County. However, the financial timing of this project was wrong. In fact, the timing could not have been worse. Secondly, let's talk about other projects you supported without so much as a feasibility study to show the project was needed or we could support any of these entities. I'm talking about the Tunica Airport, the Battle Arena, RiverPark, Tunica National, etc. Burnett are you now willing to stand-up and admit your mistakes in supporting these projects or are you going to continue to point the finger at someone else?
'Yeah we wasted money in the past but we could afford to waste money in the past,' Supervisor Burnett said. 'Eight years ago we had a lot of money so we could waste a lot of money but now you don't have a lot of money so you shouldn't.' This statement says about all we need to know about Cedric Burnett. WOW!!!
Supervisor Dunn said the county may still have to cut jobs if the pay cuts are not enough, but it's unclear how many positions would be affected."
End of rebuttal.
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