FAIRMONT, W.Va. — The Marion County Commission voted Wednesday to place a hiring freeze on county employment and simultaneously asked county officials to seek out possible cuts in their departments, if possible.
“What we’re trying to do is control the amount of employees we have, and basically it’s because the state economy is pretty tough–pretty bad,” Marion County Commissioner Randy Elliot said.
Elliot said that, for the most part, Marion County has had stronger economic achievement than other areas in the state. But, he said, the Commission wanted to take a pro-active approach in case there was a shortfall in money coming from the state or a downturn in coal in Marion County.
“Pretty much we’re self-sufficient because the economy in Marion County has been very good,” he said. “But to be proactive, instead of reacting to what may happen a few months down the road with shortfalls of money coming to Marion County, we just decided to do this today.”
Elliot said the Commissioners will be cautiously optimistic, but don’t want to take any chances in handling the budget.
Cuts have been made in several coal-reliant counties like Fayette and Nicholas in the past year due to a downturn in coal severance dollars, but Elliot said so far that hasn’t been a major issue.
“We could be hurting in Marion County down the road, ” he said. “And we may not be, But our opinion is to prepare for the future and to prepare for the future you have to start today.”
Elliot also said the county’s proximity to the I-79 corridor has played a role in making the county less dependent on coal.
“We’re very, very fortunate that we’re located on the I-79 corridor with Mon, Marion, and Harrison County all doing really well,” he said. “I feel really bad for the southern part of the state who’s economy solely revolved around coal. Not only are the coal mines shut down and gone, but their source of income from the severance taxes are history.”
The hiring freeze will not stop the county from filling existing vacancies or recently vacated positions, but they won’t be adding any new positions.