Gov. Jim Gibbons said Tuesday he will enforce his original 6 percent pay reduction plan on his office staff.
Salaries will be cut 1.4 percent, in addition to the 4.6 percent reduction created by monthly furloughs that lawmakers ordered for all state workers.
Chief of Staff Robin Reedy said the pay cut for all other state agencies will be the 4.6 percent mandated by lawmakers in the 2009 session. But other agency heads have been urged to find added savings to ensure the state doesn't end up in the red.
Asked whether salary savings from recent resignations would cover part of that cost, reducing or eliminating further actual pay cuts in the governor's office, Reedy said that won't work. She said the big problem is accumulated vacation and other hours, which must be paid to staff members who have resigned.
"We have buy-outs to pay," she said.
She said several of those employees have built up significant amounts of sick and vacation time and paying those debts will eat up most if not all the savings generated by keeping more than a half-dozen positions vacant for a time.
In addition, Reedy said she can't hold most of those vacancies for very long because, with just 17 staff positions, she needs them filled to get the office's work done.
State workers can accumulate up to 240 hours of vacation time plus even more in unused sick leave, which they are paid for when they depart. Those in the governor's office, including former Chief of Staff Josh Hicks, also ran up significant amounts of "comp time" during the last half of the 2009 Legislature, which also must be paid.
Reedy said she is hoping to fill some of the existing vacancies at lower pay rates than those who left, saving some money this year.