This editorial appears in the Oct. 9, 2009, Yakima Herald-Republic

Tough times require tough measures, and that certainly appears to be the case for Yakima County, the city of Yakima and other municipalities in Central Washington.

Dwindling revenues through property and sales taxes, along with diminished investment returns, have put a hammerlock on municipal and county operations. The altered landscape has forced local governments to make difficult decisions in order to balance next year's budgets.

For the first time in nearly three decades, the city of Yakima is laying off workers. Five jobs will be cut; that's on top of 18 positions that have not been filled. The total of 23 vacant positions will help the city reduce a $4.1 million budget gap going into 2010.

Yakima County commissioners have proposed something even more unusual in trying to offset their $3 million budget deficit: closing down administrative offices for one day each workweek. If the proposal clears several hurdles -- including agreement from union representatives -- county planning, auditor and several other offices would be closed three days a week and be open nine hours a day for the other four. That would amount to a 10 percent cutback in hours for some county staff members.

Nonunion workers as well as department heads and managers would also see a reduction in hours.

Those working in public safety -- the Sheriff's Office, Department of Corrections and the courts -- would not be affected and would remain in operation for the entire workweek.

With roughly 1,000 employees, the county predicts this reduced workweek would produce tangible savings and end up taking a serious bite out of its expected revenue shortfall for 2010. This approach also helps sidestep layoffs, a prospect any business, whether public or private, would prefer to avoid.

Yakima County commissioners have proven themselves in recent years to be innovators in how they have pieced together their budgets, developing a Priorities in Government process that's easy to understand. This latest attempt to curb the escalating burden of payroll expenses is another example of their fiscally sound approach to budgeting.

We hope other municipalities consider similar approaches. Sunnyside has already taken this step of reducing costs by closing down City Hall on Fridays.

While it may not be the preferred way of taking care of the public's business, part-time employment is far better than no employment.

With continued softness in the economy, this approach to reducing payroll costs is frequently the right one to take both from a humanitarian and productivity perspective. We hope it forestalls any more drastic measures.

* Members of the Yakima Herald-Republic editorial board are Michael Shepard, Bob Crider, Spencer Hatton and Karen Troianello.