Fourteen El Paso County workers were laid off Thursday, the first slice of a cutback that will whittle up to 85 jobs from the county payroll after Tuesday’s defeat of a proposed tax increase.

El Paso County’s administrative department is eliminating 34 positions in facilities management, information technology, justice services and parks to save $1.4 million in 2009, the county said in a news release.

Sheriff Terry Maketa said in an interview this week he’ll cut roughly 32 positions to shave spending by $1 million next year.

Other departments, including the district attorney, county clerk, coroner, treasurer, assessor, public trustee, Health Department and Department of Human Services, also might lay people off, the release said.

The cuts follow voters’ defeat of the county’s 1-percent sales tax increase on Tuesday.

Without it, the county must adopt a 2009 budget that’s about $5 million less than this year’s budget.

Not all the positions being eliminated are filled, commission Chairman Dennis Hisey said, so it’s unclear how many people will lose their jobs.

But those shown the door won’t go empty-handed.

The county is using an “employee displacement program” to help workers span the gap to another job, Hisey said. It’s the same program used during layoffs last summer that eliminated 59 jobs.

“Some of these people have been with us for a long time. This is helping them transition into something else,” Hisey said.

“It’s something that we felt we should do,” he said. “We saw it as a moral responsibility, knowing full well it wasn’t a legal responsibility.”

Besides health benefits and severance pay, employees will be paid for vacation time, as required by law, and unused sick time, which isn’t legally required.

Hisey said he didn’t know how much the county has spent on layoffs this year.

But sick time alone likely has cost taxpayers a sizeable amount. It’s not unusual for departing county workers to be paid tens of thousands of dollars for unused sick time.

Still, the one-time payments trim the payroll long-term, reducing ongoing expenses.

Hisey said commissioners don’t plan additional layoffs in 2009, but if the county’s flat revenue projections are too optimistic, all bets are off.

“If for some reason the sales tax (revenue) erodes significantly, it could happen,” he said.

–

Contact the writer: 636-0238 or pam.zubeck@gazettedev.gazette.com

Employee displacement programHealth benefits:Up to 1 year of service – 1 month of coverage1-3 years – 2 months3-5 years – 3 months5+ years – 6 monthsCompensation pay:1-5 years of service – 10 percent of annual pay6-10 years – 15 percent11+ years – 20 percentSource: El Paso County

Broncos cornerback Dre Bly brings down Cleveland’s Joshua Cribbs on a fourth quarter kickoff return Thursday, November 6, 2008, at Cleveland Browns Stadium in Cleveland, Ohio. Photo by Mark Reis, The Gazette