ABC News: State, City Governments Following Private Sector Employment Cues

[Goaldeje]

This isn't being discussed enough, imo. Municipalities are going to have to make major cuts, as their projections on income and expenditures based on companies that are going out of business.


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http://www.abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=6769495&page=1


Taking a cue from the private sector, state and city governments have started announcing job losses and furloughs as they struggle to close budget gaps without resorting to crippling tax hikes.

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg warned today that the only way the city would be able to avoid large-scale layoffs -- more than 20,000 employees -- would be if there were concessions from the state, the unions and city leaders.

"You can't spend what you don't have," Bloomberg said. "If they [the unions] are cooperative, we'll do it one way. If they are not, then we'll do it another."

The mayor's preliminary 2010 budget included requests for the state to restore $700 million in cut education funds, for the unions to accept between $500 million and $700 million in pension benefit savings and for a $900 million sales-tax hike.

Failing those agreements, he said, the city would be forced to lay off as many as 23,000 city workers, 15,000 of them teachers. The city is facing a $4 billion budget gap.


Click Link for More:

http://www.abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=6769495&page=1

[deejaydana]

So be it. The public sector isn't immune to this trainwreck we are watching unfold.

[Midnight Judges]

This type of thing has been going on for over a year in VA.

[Fred Jones]

True, but Bloomberg still not giving himself bonuses just like the many private sector wall street companies that operate out of his fair City.

Maybe if they donated their undeserved bonuses the City wouldn't have a budget problem.

Or, they could hire me and I could lose money just like they are. I mean, how hard is it to make bad decisions that see profits decline. How worse of a job could I do? I could put Citi corps/AIG/Ect. on the brink of bankruptcy just as easy as the current overpaid executives.

[FanboyOf91]

Services gonna be worse everywhere, as tax revenue dries up.

Time to start looking at some firearms.

[KAOSkins]

Thankfully the county here (where I work) isn't hurting yet because we rely on property tax and they haven't gone down. The city which relies on gross receipts tax (sales tax) has already cut 5% from their budget and it's likely to get worse for them.

We have a program similar to cali's prop 13 where property tax can only go up 3% a year. For the previous 5 years values have been rising much more than that so even when value drops it takes awhile before it catches up because properties where so undervalued to start. I got to admit when they implemented the value "cap" I didn't anticipate that it would have this effect. Glad it does though.

[DWinzit]

Mayor Bloombergs warning is similar to Governor Pattersons on a statewide level. Although Bloombergs area was the first to feel the wrath of the Wall Street dump the rest of the state has been on the same unemployment pace as the rest of the country. Both men know the worst thing that could happen right now is putting more out of work.

The teachers are the strongest union and will be interesting to see whether they will agree to concessions.

During Governor Pataki's administration state employees were continually required to take reduced and delayed minor incremental raises. These raises failed to keep up with inflation and cost of living increases. They won't willingly accept much in the line of cuts, especially per the governors first proposal.

The Pataki administration also put huge numbers of under qualified constituents into extremely high salaried positions. This is where the first pay cuts and layoffs should take place.

If unions across the country aren't prepared for concessions they best prepare themselves or they'll all be out of work.