Lawrence considers 40 days of furloughs
City expects gaps in budget with state aid decline
Tucked in next year's budget forecast was a proposal that left Lawrence City Council members incredulous as they read through their summaries last Tuesday night: City workers would be asked to take 40 days off without pay to bridge a gap created by the dwindling of local aid.
"It was outrageous, ridiculous," said Councilor Grisel Silva. "The residents want their city to improve, and that will be impossible if this happens."
Local aid contributes about 68 percent of the city's budget, but with expected state revenue shortfalls, Lawrence might get $7 million to $10 million less in 2010, said Mark Andrews, the city's budget and finance director.
He added that the city has already stripped nonpersonnel expenses and collected overdue tax bills, but that drastic measures are needed to close the gap. He said that furloughs would be temporary and that employees would recoup all their lost wages when they retire or move out of the city.
Silva said implementing a graduating scale of pay cuts, up to 10 percent for a person making $100,000 or more, would make more sense.
"When I started on the council three years ago, there were more than 100 DPW workers; now we have only 38," she said of the Department of Public Works.
"How is the city able to do things like maintain the parks, the sidewalks, the airport?" Silva asked. "There are many things that need to be fixed, and I don't think this furlough is in the best interest of the city and its residents."
Andrews said the furloughs essentially amount to pay cuts and are the best way to balance the city's $242 million budget without resorting to layoffs. "If you look at some of the cities in the South Shore and throughout the region, they've laid off dozens of workers. They pulled the trigger, but we're trying to find a compassionate way of doing things."
City Council President Patrick Blanchette said that more nonpersonnel cuts can be made, such as the stipends that Mayor Michael Sullivan gives employees, amounting to about $75,000 annually, and cutting back on the number of take-home vehicles that run up the city's costs for fuel, insurance, and maintenance. Sullivan said that most of those vehicles, used by the city's Police Department, are funded through confiscated drug money.
Most city workers are already taking 10 days off without pay to compensate for a $2.4 million gap in the current year's budget, and last month, 19 employees were laid off after their union declined to accept the furloughs. Sullivan said despite the furloughs, residents have not experienced any major inconveniences.
"City Hall is operating, 80 percent of the city's operations are open and moving, so this is a good tool to work around layoffs," Sullivan said, adding that the furloughs save the city $700,000 a week. He said that if conditions improve in the next six months, the city could reduce or eliminate the proposed furloughs.
The 2010 budget proposal is expected to go before the City Council by the middle of next month, and the city's unions are expected to vote on the 40-day furlough proposal by the end of next month. If the unions come out against the furloughs, the city might consider additional layoffs, Andrews said.
Keith Wlodyka, president of the Tower Hill Neighborhood Association, said: "It's already frustrating to try and get something done in the city. Now imagine if there is even less manpower. We can't even get street signs made now, and it will only get worse."
The Tower Hill district in the northwest section of the city includes about 5,000 homes.
