SUNBURY - Eliminating an assistant district attorney position and data entry clerk in the county's register and recorder's office are among the budgetary cuts proposed by commissioners Rick Shoch, Stephen Bridy and Vinny Clausi.
The cuts are projected to save the county approximately $120,000.
The commissioners preferred not to identify the other seven positions being eliminated until the employees are properly notified.
While the commissioners claim the elimination of the positions are justified, District Attorney Tony Rosini and Register and Recorder Mary Zimmerman think otherwise. They not only stressed the need to keep the positions, but also were very upset with the way they were informed about the cuts.
Rosini and Zimmerman said a memo announcing the cuts signed by county human resources director Joseph Picarelli was slipped under their office doors Tuesday morning by chief clerk Gary Steffen.
The memos request Rosini and Zimmerman to notify the commissioners' office within 15 days which position they choose to eliminate. The memo states that the commissioners reserve the right to cut the lowest paid position if no action is taken within 15 days.
The cuts would be effective Feb. 10.
No authority
"I had not been consulted on this issue prior to receiving the correspondence, nor, to my knowledge, has any careful analysis of the workload of my office been performed by anyone from the commissioners' office," Rosini stated.
Rosini said as an independent elected official, he alone has the right to hire and fire personnel in his office. He said the commissioners have no authority to hire, fire, eliminate or discipline any of his staff.
The memo issued to Rosini requests him to eliminate one of his five assistant district attorneys, a move the commissioners said would save approximately $80,000. All the assistant district attorneys except for first deputy Ann Targonski, are members of the Teamsters union.
In addition to Rosini and his assistants, there are three clerical staff, a victim/witness coordinator and a county detective employed in the district attorney's office.
'Unprofessional'
The memo received by Zimmerman requests her to eliminate a data entry clerk receiving the lowest salary, a move the commissioners said would save approximately $40,000. In addition to herself, Zimmerman said her office staff includes three AFSCME union workers and two non-union deputies. She said two union employees, who perform inheritance tax and recording work, respectively, currently receive the same salaries, which are the lowest in her office.
"My office is a revenue-making office, but that doesn't seem to count with the commissioners," Zimmerman said Wednesday. "I am very upset with the way I was informed about the cuts. It was very unprofessional the way it was done."
Zimmerman said she feels "targeted" by the cuts.
"I don't know why they are targeting my office or how they figured out which positions should be eliminated," she said.
The register and recorder said her office collected more than $8 million in revenue last year that will be distributed to the county, school districts, municipalities and state.
"My collections have been pretty steady in recent years," she said. "All my employees are cross-trained to do all the jobs in my office, which really helps when someone is on vacation or off sick. It just seems like the commissioners are picking on certain departments. I understand the financial situation in the county, but if all our departments were cut, we'd be all right and it would be fair to everyone."
Zimmerman, who noted she lost a position due to a retirement at the end of 2009, pointed out that her office always meets its budget.
Budget director Jeff McClintock said the current budget for the register and recorder's office is $275,000. General fund revenue generated by the office is $540,000.
The budget for the district attorney's office is $878,000. General fund revenue brought into the office totals $205,000, according to McClintock.
Stopping 'gravy train'
Clausi, who noted all three commissioners were in favor of eliminating the nine positions, stated, "The gravy train has got to stop. We have a duty and obligation as commissioners to keep the tax increase at a minimum and we were able to do that by cutting these positions."
As for the cut in the district attorney's office, Clausi said, "It's the first time in four years a position is being cut from that office. If they did the work with five assistant district attorneys, I think they can do it with four. They just have to work a little harder. Mr. Rosini handled some cases himself at the magisterial district judge offices when he was a part-time district attorney a few years ago. His salary jumped to $170,000 when he became a full-time district attorney by giving up his private law practice. He can avoid losing an assistant district attorney by taking a pay cut himself."
As for Zimmerman's office, Clausi believes advances in computer technology in recent years enable the office to operate more efficiently with less staff.
During the past four years, Clausi said 83 county employees were fired or had their positions eliminated, which saved the county $4 million and prevented the commissioners from having to raise taxes by six mills.
Shoch issued an apology to Rosini and Zimmerman on the way they were informed about the cuts, but believes they are necessary.
"They (Rosini and Zimmerman) should have been contacted directly," he said. "We were under some time constraints, but that's no excuse. I chalk it up to a rookie mistake."
Shoch said, "We are doing what we feel needs to be done to get a balanced budget."
Bridy added, "It was a hard decision to cut nine positions, but we don't want county government to be a burden for the taxpayers. The union raises are killing us and the criminal caseload is increasing. Everybody is trying to do more with less."
All three commissioners said they have the right to eliminate positions during salary board meetings. The salary board is comprised of the commissioners, controller Tony Phillips and the respective elected officials involved in any salary changes or elimination of positions.
'Where does it end?'
President Judge Robert B. Sacavage, whose court could be adversely affected by the loss of an assistant district attorney, stated, "The assistant district attorneys are not only in court, but also work with probation officers and police. Whenever public safety is compromised, it affects everyone. Where does it end? There has been no break in the crime rate and every available calendar date is being used in the court system. We have been experiencing hard times economically. I appreciate Mr. Rosini's concerns, but I'm also mindful of the difficult financial times facing the county. It would be nice to strike a proper balance."
Rosini said he knows the commissioners have the authority to control the budget for his office and recognizes the serious economic problems facing the county due to the shortfall projected in the 2012 budget. But he questions the wisdom of cutting the budget of a vital part of the criminal justice system by 10 percent when other budgets aren't being severely affected, including the commissioners and departments directly under them.
He said the state legislature has acknowledged the importance of the function of the district attorney's office in county government. He said the district attorney's office is the only row office for which a statute has been enacted that requires the commissioners to pay the necessary expenses of the district attorney in prosecuting criminal cases.
Rosini said his office is handling record numbers of criminal cases. He said eliminating one member of his staff would mean a reduction of 20 percent in the number of assistant district attorneys.
"We simply will not be able to cover the numerous felony and misdemeanor cases that are filed in Northumberland County with this significant reduction in staff," he said. "My office is responsible for covering hearings at four magisterial district judge offices, three Common Pleas courtrooms and various appellate courts, including the Superior Court and Supreme Court, and on occasion, the federal district court and federal appellate courts."
He added, "While there was recently an elimination of one magisterial district judge office in the county, this did not result in a reduction in the number of criminal cases. It just resulted in the transfer of cases from one magisterial district judge office to another. In fact, due to the heavy criminal caseload, several of the magisterial district judges have been forced to hold criminal hearings on more than one day per week. This fact alone has caused us problems in having staff cover extra days at a magisterial district judge office."
Rosini said reducing his staff will result in an increase in the backlog of criminal cases and will delay the time between when a defendant is arrested and his or her case is resolved by trial, guilty plea or sentencing.
He said it may also result in the dismissal of criminal cases since the state Supreme Court requires all criminal cases to be resolved in 180 days if a defendant is incarcerated.