Jasper County slashes budget 15 percent, lays off 15 employees

The Jasper County Council approved the layoff of 19 county employees this month to help balance next year's budget, officials said.

The move will save about $750,000, deputy county administrator Ronnie Malphrus said Wednesday.

Among those laid off was Wendy Kelly, the county's deputy administrator for development. Kelly took the job after resigning from a similar position with the town of Bluffton in January.

Other job losses include several clerks and custodians, an appraiser, a building inspector, a human resources administrator and a telecommunications officer, according to a county document. Two vacant firefighter positions were eliminated. At least two other positions in the fire department were left vacant earlier this year,

Malphrus said.

The county has 260 employees, he said.

Malphrus said the remaining staff will have to take on additional work. The layoffs probably would be hardest on the county's fire department, which operates seven stations, Malphrus said.

"There may be some partial shifts that have to go uncovered at rural stations," he said. "... It's going to be difficult on everybody."

Council member Henry Etheridge said Tuesday that departments, the building inspections department among them, were over-staffed because of a decline in new development. The layoffs were a difficult but necessary move, he said.

"It's hard to cut positions when one (person) is your neighbor and one (person) you go to church with," he said. "This was not a choice."