Atlanta lays off 97 workers

Atlanta officials ordered another major round of job cuts Wednesday — the fourth wave of layoffs since May — as the city grapples with another projected $50 million budget shortfall, this time in the Watershed Management Department.

This round cost 97 workers their jobs and froze 175 vacant positions, Mayor Shirley Franklin said, on the heels of last week’s slash of 222 city workers’ jobs, most of them in the Parks, Recreation and Cultural Affairs Department. Those job cuts were blamed on a similar $50 million shortfall in the general fund.

Franklin said the water department’s deteriorating finances and job cuts will force the delay of some water and sewer projects and leave citizens waiting longer to get answers about their bills from fewer employees.

The expected $100 million in anticipated lost revenues aggravates the $140 million shortfall projected at midyear, which forced the city to let 400 workers go in May and July. In addition, the worsening financial picture — poor sales tax and property tax collections and a drop in permit fees — caused Franklin to order 10 percent pay cuts for most city workers, as well as herself.

Franklin, promising to tighten the city’s efforts to recover overdue water bills, said she’d begin making calls herself to the top 25 delinquent accounts. Department Commissioner Rob Hunter said the past-due bills run into millions of dollars.

“They are going to be hearing from me,” said Franklin, who made similar calls early in her administration.

The budget shortfall is expected despite a 70 percent increase in water rates over the next four years, ordered five months ago. City officials said at the time the huge increase was necessary to help fund Atlanta’s $4 billion repair of its aging sewer system and efforts to improve water quality. Hunter said Wednesday no further increases were planned.

Southeast Atlanta resident Dorothy Turner felt little sympathy for the department’s current financial state Wednesday. She paid $358 at City Hall for her water bill, which was one month overdue.

“They might not be getting from everybody, but I think they’re getting more than enough from me,” said Turner, 61, who said her average monthly bill is about $180.

The Watershed Management Department is funded separately from the revenue sources that pay for most city services such as police, fire rescue and garbage collection.

The 97 workers let go Wednesday will receive two weeks’ severance pay.

Hunter said the cuts probably will delay the replacement and repairs to some equipment that isn’t properly maintained.

He estimated the city is owed millions of dollars in overdue bills from water users. Franklin and Hunter defended the city’s efforts to collect, noting that the process to recover unpaid bills is lengthy.

Sometimes, the courts rule against the city’s collection efforts. Fulton County Judge T. Jackson Bedford last week gave the Task Force for the Homeless a brief extension to pay off a portion of its $160,000 overdue water bill. The city last week shut off water service to the shelter, which is near Emory-Crawford Long Hospital.

City officials said some of their own departments are behind in paying their bills. Hunter said he did not have figures on the departments’ delinquencies.

Franklin pressed for more money from the federal government to complete some of its water and sewer system improvements.

President-elect Barack Obama has proposed a stimulus package for local governments to improve the nation’s infrastructure while boosting the economy.

Hunter blamed the watershed management shortfall on a drop in sales tax collections and higher bond costs. He said the department expects to collect $25 million less this fiscal year from water customers.

Franklin noted some customers are no longer on the city’s books because they lost their homes to foreclosure. Atlanta is also losing money, officials said, because many customers have complied with the city’s request to use less water as the region suffers through a drought.

WHO OWES

Here’s a list of the Top 25 delinquent water accounts served by the city of Atlanta.

Many are being disputed in the court system. Some accounts cannot be closed due to a court order. A few are on payment plans.

1. Pine Tree Condo Association: $575,645

2. Camelot Club Condo: $481,341

3. Southern Trace Apartments: $260,396

4. *Essex LTD: $243,772

5. Colony Square Apartments: $199,864

6. Hidden Valley Apartments: $182,042

7. Southern Trace Apartments: $152,835

8. Atlanta Dairies Inc.: $141,965

9. Asset Development Group LLC: $139,536

10. Urban Residential: $138,911

11. LSSA Properties: $135,108

12. The Metro Atlanta Task Force for the Homeless: $133,225

13. Raleigh Square Apartments: $131,939

14. Capital Street Investment: $125,806

15. TRES Inc.: $114,999

16. Morris Brown College: $96,014

17. Chastain Ampitheatre: $89,978

18. Rachels Court Apartments: $87,661

19. *Essex LTD: $81,299

20. Defoors Ferry Manor Apartments: $79,364

21. Mildred & Herbert Kirschner: $79,195

22. South Park Loft Condos: $77,135

23. Hidden Hollow Apartments: $72,006

24. The Landing: $69,599

25. Colonial Square: $69,361

Total: $7,917,992.

* The Essex bills are for different properties.

Source: Atlanta Watershed Management Department.