When Butler County Commissioners were orchestrating the sale of Sunnyview Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, they reminded the public on a regular basis of the Government Center’s need to underwrite the nursing home operations on a regular basis. Most taxpayers and I vocally advocated the sale.

The county claims that it dedicates one-third of county employees’ hours to support Sunnyview’s operations, which commissioners claim amounts to nearly $1 million annually, in the following departments: the Controller’s Office, Personnel Department, Commissioners Offices, Facilities and Operations, Information Technology, as well as other departments.

In April, when the county is expected to sell Sunnyview for a yet-to-be officially disclosed $18.5 million, will one third of the government center’s unneeded employees be cut as well?

I asked one row official about this, and his reply floored me: “We will not reduce any staff, and it will be used to spread out the remaining work and reduce stress in the Government Center.”

Huh?

So the Sunnyview expenses that commissioners have been complaining about is all hogwash, as the government center will continue to operate as usual and none of the Sunnyview-related hours will be eliminated.

The private sector would go broke with the lax attitude of this county government.

With the Sunnyview sale in April, yes, the county will get a sudden cash windfall, but the county’s waste of tax dollars will continue to feed the culture of entitlement at the Government Center.

Furthermore, I can already project that there will be another county “Pension Grab” as a majority of Sunnyview’s proceeds will be poured into the pension fund for obvious results. The county’s debt will also escalate dramatically as the three commissioners refinance all of the county’s existing debt into a new bond sale because of construction of the new office annex.

Finally, a greatly flawed and misleading salary study, for which commissioners paid thousands of dollars, is now adding momentum for the county to schedule salary increases this spring for non-union employees. Like piranhas after prey, department heads are scrambling to get their share of the windfall, derived from the proposed Sunnyview sale: They want newly invented full-time job positions, are demanding extra raises for management, and will be enjoying reduced workloads as the county no longer runs Sunnyview.

Watch this one closely: I predict the new building annex will be filled with added jobs before it’s ever even completed. Watch for new job titles sharing management’s existing jobs. We do not need a hiring frenzy in county government.

In the next commissioners election, voters need to vote for a change to mark the end of this culture of entitlement. Elect three new outsiders who will not tax the county’s taxpayers needlessly with unbridled waste. Until then, we can only watch Christmas in April with disgust.