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Adams County Supervisor Ricky Gray is correct. Adams County employees deserve a pay increase, but such an increase should not happen if the county couldn’t pay for it out of its present budget.

Gray suggested a tax increase might be needed to fund pay increases for county employees. We do not endorse any tax increase. Rather, we urge supervisors to take a close look at its current budget and reallocate funds in order to find a way to fund those increases.

County employees do need and deserve a pay increase. County Road Department Supervisor Robbie Dollar said his employees are leaving their Adams County jobs to go to other counties that offer more pay. He said his road crew is down six people right now.

Any employer in the area certainly sympathizes and understands the complexities of the issue. Our question is, if the need for pay increases for county employees is such an urgent issue and has been an issue for years now, why were pay increases not made a part of the current county budget?

Like every business in Adams County, the Board of Supervisors must live within their budget. We would all like to offer our employees pay increases, but the realities of the current economy make that a possibility for few businesses.

We urge our county supervisors to be good stewards of our taxpayer dollars and live within the county’s budget. Otherwise, all pay increases — no matter how well deserved — should wait until they are a part of the county’s budget.