Press Release from Mercer County Board Chair

Mercer County Republicans worked hard to get a Republican majority on
the county board last fall, and now, after 30 years of Democrat
control, the county is faced with a serious financial situation. The
Mercer County Board declared last week that county government is in a
period of financial emergency including:

1. The Mercer County board's 2015 appropriations ordinance did not
provide funding for:

--Salary of the county engineer & other MFT expenses;
--All required "step increases" in compensation for represented
employees in compliance with labor agreements;
--Required payments for interest or principle reduction for the
county's operating line of credit;
--Likely settlement of three expired bargaining unit contracts and
costs associated with the likely settlements.

2. Mercer County does not maintain an unencumbered fund balance
sufficient to manage county business without incurring short term debt
for the purpose of maintaining county operations.

3. Mercer County has been unable to meet its legal and contractual
obligations to make payments to creditors, including the Public
Building Commission.

4. The growth in the cost of labor and benefits have exceeded the
economic growth of Mercer County as well as the county's legal ability
or desire to raise taxes to meet the rising costs

5. In recent years financial obligations have been funded by selling
county assets or through inter-fund borrowing and transfers, which is
no longer an available financial strategy (the county has one asset left -- a farm).

See http://www.mercercountyrepublicans.org/mercer-county-resolution-of-fiscal-emergency/ for entire text of the emergency resolution.

Brian Anseeuw, MD
Mercer County Board Chair