Benefits December 30, 2009

GA County Slashes 401(k) Match

December 30, 2009 (PLANSPONSOR.com) – Employees of a Georgia county near Atlanta have had their 401(k) employer match cut back as part of a broad cost-cutting effort.
Reported by

The unspecified 401(k) match reduction by the Forsyth County Commission was approved as part of series of budget cuts for the county government’s FY 2010 operating budget, according to the AccessNorthGa.com Web site.

The news story indicated the recently approved $79-million spending plan was down from the prior year’s total of $84.1 million.

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In addition to the match reduction, other cost-saving measures for the new budget year include:

  • no merit or cost-of-living increases for the 1,200 county employees;
  • seven of 10 holidays in 2010 being unpaid for employees not scheduled to work on those days;
  • a reduction of approximately $3 million in the Sheriff’s Office budget;
  • removal of a number of existing vacancies from the budget; and
  • a reduction to the county’s vehicle replacement fund.

The 2010 budget includes the use of $1 million of General Fund Reserves to bring the spending plan into balance, the news account indicated.

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