State employees appear to be in line for one of their best pay raises in the past decade. But it could come with a bitter pill -- more work heaped upon them.

Legislators want to pay for raises of 4 percent or more by eliminating roughly 2,300 vacant positions in state government that have sat empty for at least six months. The House's budget proposal would trim nearly all of them, while the Senate's plan would allow the UNC system to hold onto its long unfilled jobs.

Depending on how the House and Senate resolve the differences in their budget plans, the moves could generate as much as $100 million for raises that could be as much as 4.25 percent.

But Gov. Mike Easley and state agency heads say the public could suffer as a result. They say many of these jobs are for needed services such as making prisons safe and escape-free and providing care for the mentally ill.

They say these jobs are not getting filled because the pay lags compared to other employers, the jobs are difficult and the state's hiring practices include a lot of red tape.

A chunk of the salary money often goes to paying overtime to other workers or to contract temporary employees so that critical services are provided.

"Just because you have a vacant position doesn't mean that the services you provide for a patient or a client go away," said Jim Slate, the budget analysis director for the Department of Health and Human Services. Easley told lawmakers much the same thing in a letter this month.

But some lawmakers have become skeptical of all the money some agencies have accrued through unfilled jobs. They've begun looking at positions that state agencies have added in recent years to see if those jobs are being filled or if the salary money is being spent somewhere else.

As budget talks progress, it's unclear whether the taking of salary money for pay raises will survive. Slate and other agency officials are lobbying lawmakers to reconsider.

They also say they have been filling many vacant jobs since the date of the report, so the money left over may be far less than originally projected. "If you ran that report today," said Andy Willis, the UNC system's lobbyist, "it's probably under $15 million."

Rep. Dan Blue, a Raleigh Democrat, started the movement to use vacant salary money for the pay raises. He amended the House budget to take about $100 million generated by vacant salaries so the pay raises for most state employees could be boosted from the 2.5 percent Easley proposed to 4.25 percent.

The State Employees Association of North Carolina, which represents more than half of the state's 95,000 workers, supports the House's efforts to raise pay. Over the past 15 years, state employees have received meager raises or bonuses, though last year lawmakers gave them a 5.5 percent raise.

But Dana Cope, the association's executive director, said the state should not cut nearly 2,300 jobs because they have not been filled within six months.

"We think they are absolutely vital to keep state government functioning well," he said.

But he added that the agencies need to do a better job laying out their needs instead of using lapsed salary money to cover them.

The Senate plan would allow universities to escape the knife. The UNC system has the largest amount of unspent salary money for unfilled jobs of six months or longer.

A legislative research report noted that as of March 31, the universities had nearly $70 million unspent on salaries in the current fiscal year. Most of the positions are for professors and administrators. Universities had the largest number of long-unfilled jobs -- 1,102 -- in state government.

Willis said the way the academic year works often leads to longer periods before positions can be filled. Universities may get money from the legislature to hire professors in August, but most professors don't change jobs until the end of an academic year in May.

Get $150+ in coupons in every Sunday N&O. Click here for convenient home delivery.