Limits on public pay

Public employee unions are going ballistic about a proposed new provision in the Taxpayer Protection Amendment that would prohibit an arbitrator from forcing any unit of local government to grant a percentage pay increase that exceeds the percentage revenue increase to which that unit is limited by the TPA.

Local units of government would not be prohibited from granting larger raises, but, if they wanted to do so, they'd have to get voter approval or take the money from something else. This is what businesses and households have to do if they want to increase spending on something at a rate that is greater than the increase in available money. Sometimes life just sucks.

Of course this means that local governments will not increase salaries at a rate greater than the "TPA rate" unless they have to. And they'd have to if salaries were not high enough to attract the needed employees. One would hope that's what governs pay decisions today.