By HEATHER NELLIS

Recorder News Staff

FONDA -- The Montgomery County Board of Supervisors Finance Committee is scheduled tonight to discuss the possibility of what committee Chairman William Strevy called a "government shutdown."

Hesitant to call it a "furlough" because of legal implications, Strevy said the idea would force some employees to involuntarily take unpaid leave in hopes of saving some of the $50,000 a day spent on payroll.

"It's a discussion item only," Strevy warned. "But I didn't want someone down the road to say 'Why didn't we try that?' So I'm going to throw it out before the committee and see what happens. It may not go anywhere, but we should at least have a discussion."

Strevy seemed unsure about its plausibility because of information officials received from similar talks that took place during roundtables last year.

"The logistics of it is mind-boggling. Ideally, we could send everyone home and save $250,000 for a week. But it creates issues in departments, because we could not just shut down Department of Social Services, the jail, or the county clerk's office, plus bumping rights. It comes down to essential and non-essential. When you add in those necessary employees, the number gets smaller and smaller. But every dollar we save could mean someone's job saved when the cuts come."

County officials have already been warned about the impending $6.5 million deficit for 2012, and Strevy said the scheduled discussion is "absolutely because the two are tied together."

"The $6.5 million is still lingering. By budget time, it could be $7 million, or more. When you're looking for that much money, you can't pass up anything."

CSEA President Edward Russo of the Montgomery County Local 829 union said he's already been approached by supervisors about the issue.

"I don't believe it's the right way to go; it's totally crazy. I think they need to look at another avenue. We're willing to look at another avenue. They should sit down and talk to us," he said.

Russo said the union put out a survey to its membership to gather opinions what the county can do to save money.

"There were some good items to come out of it," said Russo. "We need to come up with positive ways to fix this. Hopefully they will look at our ideas."

Strevy expects concrete details, like bottom line savings, plus the opinions of the county labor attorneys and Personnel Director Rich Baia, will be further discussed at the meeting, which starts at 6 p.m. in the county office building on Broadway in Fonda.