Nearly 25 percent of the city of College Park’s workers could lose their jobs under one scenario to balance next year’s budget.
The $27.3 million budget is approximately $2 million less than last year's, and the anticipation of lower tax revenues is forcing the city to consider more cuts.
“This is the toughest challenge I’ve faced in more than 20 years of government," City Manager William Johnson said.
The city doesn't yet have exact numbers on how many jobs could be cut or the savings. But College Park’s workforce is about 400, and 80 to 100 workers might have to be laid off under the most drastic proposal, finance director Richard Chess said at Thursday’s budget workshop.
Chess said he had previously worked for a city with 2,500 workers that let 100 workers go during a budget crunch. “The results were devastating to the city,” he said.
But that might not be the end to layoffs.
“We are going to have to take a serious look at how we stand financially in October. We may have to have a second round of layoffs then,” Mayor Jack Longino said.
Councilman Charles Phillips said the city's population has shrunk in half, but College Park still has the same number of employees. He urged the council to look carefully at where the job cuts would hit.
College Park traditionally evaluates the budget during the year, but Councilman Tracy Wyatt said the city needs to be especially diligent this year. “We have got to start doing business differently,” he said.
Councilman Ambrose Clay said the council should be very careful in its approach. “I just wonder what the potential of a second layoff would do to our workers,” he said.
The city also is looking at an early retirement program that would credit workers with either five years in age or five years of service to encourage them to retire. Preliminary estimates show 33 employees could be eligible for the program.
If all the employees took the early retirement, the city has the potential of saving $1.4 million in the fiscal year. Employees would have 45 days from the start of the program to make a decision, and then a period of seven days after the decision is made to change their mind.
A combination of the early retirement program and layoffs is considered likely.
The City Council will hold two public hearings on the budget before it is approved by June 30.
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