No matter how you crunch the numbers on Ulster County's new middle-management union contract, it adds up to a huge lump-sum cash payout the county can ill afford. The contract -- the subject of a contentious meeting of the county Budget and Finance Committee last night -- is proving a little too confusing for the county's elected officials.
Times Herald-Record reporter Adam Bosch helpfully breaks down the math that has legislators stymied, and notes:
No calculators were present at the meeting.
Mike Madsen says the union's 13% pay hike and $500,000 in retroactive pay could't possibly come at a worse time:
You see, The Union opted to delay increases in their pay rate during better economic times and have decided that now, in the midst of a financial crisis, that this is their moment to pounce. But there's a catch. Ulster County taxpayers cant afford another hand reaching in their pockets at a time when people are moving into cardboard huts.
So much for the beauty of mathematics.
