Editorial: Are residency requirements needed for government hiring?
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There are times when where you live matters.
Generally, that’s when the money you spend on taxes banks a return. It’s a situation most often associated with school districts. Maybe you bought a house in Murrysville so your kids could go to Franklin Regional. Maybe you bought in Natrona Heights so they could go to Highlands. Your address gains you that access.
There are other benefits that can come with your residence. In-state tuition for universities — or in-county for community college — is one. The police department that patrols your neighborhood is another.
But should a job be part of that?
For years, many government entities have included residency in employment requirements.
Sometimes it makes sense from a logistical standpoint. If a police officer needs to respond quickly when off duty, being inside the borough would be beneficial.
Other times, it seems more about hitching best interests together. If the township’s money is going to be spent on a manager, wouldn’t that person be more invested by calling that municipality home?
But it doesn’t always work out — especially in times like these when many government agencies are among those employers scrambling to fill key positions.
Westmoreland County commissioners are lifting a residency requirement amid a need to hire more than 200 people for vacancies.
This isn’t entirely new. The county has done the same for important and hard-to-fill slots, including jail guards and Westmoreland Manor nursing staff. This time, however, it is across the board, and it prompts the question of whether residency requirements have outlived their usefulness.
Is there really a big deal about hiring an accountant who happens to live in Fayette County? If an employee was going to staff a county office in New Kensington, wouldn’t a Tarentum resident be as helpful as someone from Hempfield?
Maybe moving forward, residency should be a factor that could add to candidates’ plus columns but isn’t necessarily a strike against them when a county or city or school district is hiring. It’s a needed rethinking of priorities because if the jobs are important enough to fill, they are too important to be left empty.