Are Salary Cuts Legal?

Last night the Board of Aldermen completed their budget. This budget included many cuts in salary. The salries of the clerks as well as the police officers was drastically cut. According to a conversation I overheard this morning, cutting the salries of city employees is not legal. I have been researching this information at www.laborlawtalk.com which is a webiste that archives information about Mississippi Labor Laws. This information has not been verified, but if I was an employee of the City of Lumberton, I would take the time to research this matter. According to the information I was able to confirm, the salary of an employee can not be reduced unless their job duties has been reduced. Job positions can be cut but the salaries can not be reduced unless it is justified by the reduction of the duties performed. When workers are hired, their salary is set and the municipality established the worth of the job when that person was hired. If the salary is reduced, the employer is essentially reducing the value of the positon and as a result the differnce in pay would be considered a donation, and cities can not lawfully donate goverment funds for in kind services. Please understand that municipal laws states that salaries may be reduced as long as it is not done arbitrarily ( based on or determined by individual preference or convenience rather than by necessity). The reduction in salary that was included in Lumberton's budget seems to be arbitrary. For instance, the members of the police department and the clerk's office saw a reduction of almost $2.00 while the workers in the public works department received reductions of .50. Also, there were some workers that had their salaries reduced while others received a raise. Additionally, the Public Works Director salary as well as the Chief of Police salary was cut by 4 1/2 %, but there was no reduction the the city clerk's salary. The city will begin adhering to the guidlines of their budget on October 1, 2010 which gives the city officals as well as the city workers the opportunity to find out the laws regarding the cuts that were made to the city employee salaries.