Jul 10, 2009 2:46 pm US/Central
City On Pace For $300M Deficit By End Of Year
650 Unionized City Workers To Be Laid Off If No Deal Reached Next Week
CHICAGO (CBS) ―
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Chicago City Hall (File Photo)
CBS
Chicago's fiscal chief says City Hall is on pace to be $300 million in the hole by the end of the year.
Revenues fell $135 million below projections made last fall due to the recession, the city said.
Taxes, including sales, income and real estate taxes, have continued to decline.
Chief Financial Officer Gene Saffold also said 1,500 unionized workers would have to be laid off unless three remaining unions agree to concessions.
All but three unions that represent city workers have agreed to a deal that would avert mass layoffs, and the workers who have agreed to the deal are imploring those who haven't to fall in line.
The deal reportedly calls for 8 percent wage cuts and two weeks of furlough days each year for two years.
"With 90 percent of our employees represented by unions, we hope to reach an agreement with our union partners soon to reduce personnel costs without layoffs and limiting the impact on city services," Saffold said.
One of the unions holding out is the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, or AFSCME, which says the pay cuts are too deep.
"AFSCME members are among the lowest-paid city workers, many live from paycheck to paycheck, and they simply cannot afford a pay cut of that magnitude," AFSCME Executive Director Henry Bayer said in a news release.
AFSCME also criticized the plan to lay off city workers. Bayer said hundreds of workers represented by AFSCME would be among those affected.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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