2/09 Staff Reduction Plan

Mayor Kezer announced final lay-offs on Friday 2/13.

CLICK HERE to read the Mayor's Press Release.

CLICK HERE to read the list of eliminated positions.

These cuts are painful and involve the lay-off of dedicated public servants. These reductions are in response to: mid-year FY09 cut to local aid last month, low revenues from excise tax and investment/interest income and severe reductions in local aid for FY10. We know that Amesbury can expect at least a 30% reduction in local aid for Fiscal Year 2010 and these staff reductions should give us a good lead on that (the fiscal year starts July 1; see previous post). Better to re-shape municipal services and make these reductions now then handle them piece-meal. Amesbury is caught in the same fiscal tsunami facing states and municipalities across the country.

Looking ahead as we start FY10 budget preparation, I see continued tightening of spending and the reduction of municipal services. I don't see any improvement from the Commonwealth for quite a long while, meaning the pressure on local revenue (e.g. property and excise taxes) will be all the greater. Amesbury's households, however, are also under great pressure - layoffs, adjustable mortgages kicking in, reductions in home value and retirement savings - so there is no room for increasing revenue locally, either. It all adds up to hard choices about what services we can eliminate and still keep a basic level of services. We will face those choices in developing next year's budget.

ADDT'L COMMENT, 2/22/09: I've had a number of questions about the layoffs and the current 'state' of Amesbury. As I understand it, these lay offs were NOT made simply to balance the remainder of the FY09 budget (that goes through the end of June, 2009).

As I posted above, Amesbury is facing a HUGE reduction in local aid from the Commonwealth, starting in July. From the Mayor's comments at the last Municipal Council meeting, the press release announcing the cuts and conversations with the Mayor and his Chief of Staff Kendra Amaral, it is my understanding that these lay offs are intended to absorb the FY10 cut in local aid in advance. Running 'back of the envelope' numbers about what the 19 positions might save, estimating $50K annually in salary + long-term benefits over the remaining 4 months of the year plus ALL of next fiscal year, I put the savings at about $1.2 million. Given the $250K local aid cut from this year's budget + expected $700K cut in local aid from next year's budget (July 1), then it looks like these cuts are intended to and will largely close the budget shortfall created by the deep local aid cuts.

I think taking action NOW in a decisive manner to get ahead of coming reductions in revenue is very prudent and I support the Mayor with taking quick action. I've had folks ask why they haven't seen other local communities announcing lay offs like this. All I can say is that EVERY community is getting the same cuts to local aid and all I can say is that the longer they wait to make cuts, the deeper their cuts will have to be.

As a Municipal Councilor, I have additional questions about the cuts and look forward to hearing more about their rationale. Particularly, the elimination of the public health staff and the elimination of the Permit Coordinator position concern me. There are no good choices to make at this juncture---every cut will mean a reduction in basic services, no way around it. Conversations about what are core services to focus on as our revenues tighten up will be important, especially as we develop the FY10 budget over the next months. I will be asking for more information about these cuts and our overall situation; please me know what your questions and concerns are about these developments.