Charles Oliver
The city of Dalton could cut its public works department by 20 or more workers. City Council members say cuts will not affect trash collection or services other than paving.
In May, the City Council approved a resolution calling for the city and county road departments to be combined and almost all of that work to be contracted out to private firms. The Whitfield County Board of Commissioners approved an alternative resolution calling for a study of each government’s road department.
Council members said at the time they still planned to get out of paving. That was a stance reiterated by several council members Tuesday. That will lead to staff cuts, they said.
“I think we are talking somewhere in the mid to upper 20s as far as people,” said council member Dick Lowrey, chairman of the public works committee.
The public works department currently has about 90 employees.
“This would be actual cuts in people. We are not going to be able to do it through attrition,” Lowrey said.
Council members said the cuts should not affect services.
“We wouldn’t be cutting anything having to do with trash pickup or any of the other public works duties, just paving,” Lowrey said.
Council member George Sadosuk, another member of the public works committee, agrees.
“No other services will be affected. I don’t think citizens will see a difference,” he said.
Council members noted the city has largely been out of the paving business for several years. Most of that work is performed by the county public works department under the Local Option Sales Tax (LOST) agreement.
“When the county started taking over some of these services, there really wasn’t a reduction in the forces,” Lowrey said. “It really needs to be seriously looked at now to see what sort of work force we need.”
Council members are still gathering information.
“We want to get some education from (public works director Benny Dunn). Then over the next 30 to 45 days, the final part of it will come in,” said Mayor David Pennington.
The city is currently preparing its 2009 budget. Council members say it is still too early to say exactly what the 2009 public works budget will be.
“But it’s going to be a pretty significant reduction,” said Pennington.
The City Council recently adopted a force reduction policy. That policy calls for staff reductions to be done in one of two ways. The City Council can pass a budget that includes cuts that would make staff cuts necessary. They can also pass a resolution that the city is curtailing a certain service or services.
“Once that happens it’s up to the department or departments, if it’s across department lines, to determine the folks they are going to keep and who they are not going to keep based on the criteria outlined in that reduction policy,” said Dalton human resources director Greg Batts.
