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Chicago Government Jobs Saved through Budget Measures

Posted on May 12, 2009

Some Chicago government jobs could be saved as the city takes measures to address its budget deficit.

Mayor Richard M. Daley
recently proposed that the City of Chicago cut non-union personnel costs by $10 million and save $2.6 million through management efficiencies. These moves would help the city’s budget deficit, which has increased to $96 million during the first four months of 2009.

“We expect that our revenue deficit will continue to grow, and that it could total more than $250 million to $300 million by the end of our fiscal year in December,” Daley said in a press release. “We will continue to take needed steps to manage our way, month by month, through these difficult times.”

The steps to save the $10 million will affect the city’s 3,600 non-union personnel, including Daley, members of his staff, department heads and other management and administrative staff. The measures will result in an annual salary cut of about 6 percent for non-union employees, or about 10 percent for the rest of this year.

“Every dollar we save from these measures helps to save jobs and maintain services for people,” Daley added.

The remaining $2.6 million will be saved through a series of management efficiencies, including an additional $2 million in unemployment insurance savings earned by working with unions to reduce the number of layoffs and $600,000 savings from traffic control reductions and telecom savings.

“I want to remind everyone that personnel costs comprise more than 80 percent of our corporate budget, and 90 percent of our employees are represented by unions,” Daley said. “As we’ve cautioned many times before, we cannot get through these tough times and expect to balance our budget this year and for the next several years without the cooperation and support of all the unions serving the city.”