Top county administrators and elected officials have decided to lead by example.

Now all they need is some followers.

Last week, Sheriff Stan Sniff and District Attorney Rod Pacheco agreed to give up 10 percent of their salaries, joining all five supervisors, Assessor Larry Ward, Controller Robert Byrd and Treasurer-Tax Collector Don Kent.

That's the same percentage county leaders say their 18,000 employees need to take to avoid massive layoffs, but the unions representing the bulk of those employees are balking.

It's understandable. Ten percent is a lot of money, and many of the employees are already strapped, suffering the same drop in property values as the rest of us. And no one's bills are shrinking.

But this isn't just a negotiating gambit by county supervisors. They anticipate a $130 million shortfall as a result of plummeting tax revenue -- nearly 20 percent of the $750 million portion of the budget they actually have some control over.

While local school districts have put off their pain until next year, the county doesn't have that luxury. Pay cuts would continue the savings into next year, but the county is also considering -- unwisely -- papering over a good chunk of the gap by drawing $45 million out of its reserves. That money will need to be made up next year as well, when the reserves aren't there to spend.

If the unions won't agree to cuts, there could be as many as 1,000 layoffs. Social services would probably take the biggest hit, at a time when a growing number of residents need to draw on them, but cuts in services would be widespread. Every dollar of wage concessions is one less dollar that has to be cut from children or seniors.

The sheriff's deputies union is leading the foot-dragging, apparently comfortable in the belief that their ranks would suffer the least in any layoff scenario. The four other unions are more willing to talk, but not unless the deputies go along.

The county's leaders are to be commended for taking that painful step unilaterally, knowing that their share of the cuts will barely make a ripple in the red ink. It's past time for the unions to step up, not just to save their own jobs and those of their co-workers, but to keep critical services going to the county residents.

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