MRJ opens the budget dialogue

The MRJs Jesse Buchanan opens the dialogue on the Town budget:

"I think that there will be some other cuts that will be necessary," said Democratic town councilor Sheldon Dill. He considered the budget a good first step.

The article continues:

Ruocco said much of the budget is wages and benefits and he hopes negotiations with unions will be able to ease the financial burden.

Frankly though, the unions knew the non-union wage increases:

long before I posted them here.

Seeing things like this can be frustrating, particularly when you know decisions (such as the raises that go as high as 6% and 7%) have consequences. And while there are explanations for the raises, explanations don't necessarily mean a wise choice was made.

Tim White

For clarity, "E" refers to exempt and "N" refers to non-exempt. The critical difference between the two relates to a labor law which determines if an ee gets paid overtime. Exempt gets no overtime. Non-exempt gets overtime.