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County eyes benefit cuts

By ROWENA PLETT

Staff writer

At the end-of-the-month meeting Friday, Marion County Commission spent some time reviewing department requests for the 2007 budget.

Looking down the road, commissioners discussed how the county will make up the loss of revenue due to discontinuation of property taxes on new business machinery and equipment. The law went into effect July 1.

"Commissioner Randy Dalke suggested they look at employee benefits and make some changes.

"We need to look at benefits if we expect to survive," he said.

One of his suggestions was to reduce the number of sick days allowed (currently 12) and provide short-term disability insurance. He said the move would cut costs without reducing benefits.

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