Auditor General Jack Wagner Calls for Moratorium On Cost of Living Salary Increases for Public Officials

State's independent watchdog says it's a prudent step to close budget gap

HARRISBURG, Pa., Nov. 30, 2010 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Auditor General Jack Wagner said today that the governor-elect and General Assembly's first order of business should be to initiate a moratorium on the scheduled 1.7 percent cost-of-living increase for approximately 1,500 government leadership positions in state government.

Enacting a moratorium would save taxpayers approximately $3 million in the first year and $12 million over four years, Wagner said. More important, a moratorium would symbolize state government's commitment to fiscal prudence at a time of unprecedented fiscal peril: The Commonwealth is facing a budget deficit of $4 billion to $5 billion in the 2011-12 fiscal year, he noted.

"Public service is about leadership and not about personal enrichment," Wagner said. "With Pennsylvania struggling with its greatest fiscal crisis since the Great Depression, public officials should not be getting pay raises when working families are still tightening their belts and senior citizens must get by with no Social Security cost-of-living increase."

Wagner said the salary savings could be used to provide financial assistance to vital community social services programs whose funding has been reduced in recent years, such as community libraries.  

Over the past two months, Wagner, the state's independent fiscal watchdog, has highlighted many ways that the state could save money without reducing services to Pennsylvanians. His suggestions, which have included reforming the state's charter-school funding formula and reducing the error rate in Medicaid spending, now total more than $1.1 billion for the 2011-12 fiscal year and $5.13 billion over the next four years.

Details about his savings proposals are available to the public at www.auditorgen.state.pa.us.

Auditor General Jack Wagner is responsible for ensuring that all state money is spent legally and properly.  He is the commonwealth's elected independent fiscal watchdog, conducting financial audits, performance audits and special investigations.  The Department of the Auditor General conducts more than 5,000 audits per year.  To learn more about the Department of the Auditor General, taxpayers are encouraged to visit the department's website at www.auditorgen.state.pa.us.

SOURCE Pennsylvania Department of the Auditor General