Budget ax expected to be announced today
by Edward Mason and
Hillary Chabot
DNN Reports!
Wednesday, Apr. 8, 2009
Two of the biggest Hub unions that refused to cave to Mayor Menino’s demand for a wage freeze are slated to bear the brunt of layoffs in an austere budget proposal that axes 212 classroom jobs and 67 uniformed officers.
Menino balanced the $2.4 billion budget by laying off 565 city workers at a savings of $28 million. He’ll present the budget today to the City Council.
Boston Public Schools would be hit hardest, with 364 layoffs - 212 teachers and teacher’s aides, and another 152 administrative positions.
Boston police would lose 67 uniformed cops among 123 positions slated for elimination.
A dramatic $62 million drop in state aid triggered the city’s fiscal mess. Yesterday, Menino pleaded with Beacon Hill lawmakers for the power to raise meals and telephone-pole taxes to stave off devastating cuts.“This is a real crisis,” said Menino “It’s not a pretty budget.”
Union officials cast aside the budget blueprint’s gloomy design. Boston Police Patrolmen’s chief Thomas Nee said he isn’t convinced that such deep cuts would play out.
“We continue to work with them on both a national and local level,” Nee said. “And we’re sure at the end of this process there will be no legitimate reason to lay off a Boston police officer.”
Boston Teachers Union honcho Richard Stutman insisted no teachers need to be laid off.
“We are not at all convinced we’re slated to have any layoffs whatsoever,” Stutman said.
Dot Joyce, a Menino spokeswoman, said while teachers and cops rejected the freeze, 22 unions accepted it, saving the city $8.7 million and 196 jobs that would have been cut. She said there’s no bluff in the mayor’s budget.
“These are real numbers,“ Joyce said. “I don’t know how much more real they can be than when they’re in black-and-white.”
The city plans to keep 67 cops on the payroll through Oct. 1 while it competes for federal stimulus money. If that fails, Joyce said, the jobs will be gone.
Menino’s budget chief Lisa Signori crafted a spending plan that cut $44 million across all city departments and dipped into reserves for $40 million - one-third of the city’s piggy-bank. Signori said a halt to new hires in October along with austerity measures helped the city avoid even deeper cuts to essential services.
While refusing to reform city government first,
Mayor Tom Menino proposes to tax utility polls,
increase the meals tax along with cutting
565 city jobs. (DNN Staff photo)
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