Mark Schlueb
Orlando Sentinel (Florida)
ORLANDO, Fla. — Orlando government will cut its work force by more than 10 percent — some 342 positions, including more than 100 cops and firefighters — unless an unexpected tax windfall comes through in the coming weeks.
The cuts would affect services to residents in ways big and small, from the elimination of holiday decorations and reduced litter cleanup to how quickly emergency workers respond to 911 calls.
City officials began notifying employees whose jobs could be eliminated on Wednesday. Dozens of firefighters were summoned by a 6 a.m. phone call to a department training center to get the news. Police officers were told about the same time.
It’s part of a wider effort by Mayor Buddy Dyer to plug a deficit in next year’s budget projected at $40 million. This year’s city operating budget is $371 million.
“There’s no way we get to these numbers without employees being affected,” said Rebecca Sutton, Dyer’s chief financial officer.
Every city department would be cut by about 12 percent under Dyer’s plan, which would take effect with the new budget year on Oct. 1. The city would shed 342 jobs, including 120 vacant positions, to save $34 million. The police and fire departments are the city’s biggest, and would lose the most workers.
The police department faces the loss of 114 positions, 30 of them vacant, including 59 officers and 55 civilian employees. However, the city has applied for federal funds to retain 15 of the officers.
In addition to patrol officers, the city would cut staffing of its horse-mounted patrol, and cut crime-scene technicians and civilian communications workers.
The Fire Department would lose 46 firefighters, another 25 vacant positions and an administrative worker. That means the elimination of eight ambulance rescue trucks and one ladder truck, as well as cuts in overtime and other expenses.
“Our fire chief feels we still maintain a high level of service under this scenario,” Chief Administrative Officer Byron Brooks said.
Also on the chopping block: the Segway-riding employees in the much-maligned downtown ambassador program.
The cuts aren’t a done deal. City officials won’t know for certain just how much tax money they’re expected to collect until estimates come from the property appraiser in June.
However, city officials expect a $10 million drop in property taxes and additional declines in sales-tax and revenue-sharing dollars from the state.
The Dyer administration also expects the threatened cuts to pressure labor unions representing city employees to renegotiate their contracts. If the unions agree to accept salary cuts and other contract changes, that could reduce the number of employees facing layoffs.
Firefighter union president Steve Clelland called the move premature and said Dyer should work harder to avoid sacrificing residents’ safety.
“We don’t even know the numbers yet, and we’re telling people they’ll be losing their jobs. Frankly, the mayor should put as much effort into saving public safety as he is into getting a train or an opera,” Clelland said, referencing Dyer’s push for a commuter rail system and community venues.
Dyer’s staff isn’t dodging the budget bullet. The mayor’s executive office would lose nine employees, though none is from the mayor’s inner circle of advisers. But all of Dyer’s appointed staff, including all department heads, will have their salaries frozen, be forced to take one week’s unpaid furlough and lose longevity bonuses.
Copyright 2009 Sentinel Communications Co.