I have never laid claim to being a math whiz, but sometimes it just comes down to common sense. Sometimes -- no matter how fast you talk -- things just don't add up.

The proposed Bellevue vacation policy is one of those things -- just doesn't add up.

Right now, if you get hired full-time by Bellevue Borough, you get two weeks of paid vacation after you have worked for a year. So if you are hired on June 1, 2011, on June 1, 2012 you can take off for two weeks.

The proposal council has been asked to consider changes all that. First, you can get credit for hours that you worked part-time before you were hired full-time. Then, you can get a week of your vacation time after six months of employment, rather than a year.

Council member Susan Viscusi immediately questioned whether this would give employees extra vacation time, but was assured by DAS Doug Sample that such was not the case. Sample's exact words were that after working for six months an employee would get one week of vacation, and after working for a year, would get two weeks of vacation.

So, if you work for the borough part-time for 1,040 consecutive hours and then are hired full-time on June 1, 2010, you can throw your stuff on your new desk and take off for a week of paid vacation. Six months later -- on or about Dec. 1, 2010 -- when you have completed your one-year anniversary, you can take off for two weeks.

Using some very simple math skills, the current policy gives employees the ability to take off two weeks at taxpayers' expense a year after they start working full-time. The new policy allows them to take off three weeks in six months' time.

Does that add up for you?