CHICAGO MAYOR RICHARD DALEY to Shut Down Some City Services for Six Days Over Next Two Years!
MANDATORY, UNPAID "DAYS OFF" WOULD APPLY TO NON-ESSENTIAL PERSONNEL ONLY!
Except for Police, Fire, and other essential city services, Chicago Mayor Richard Daley plans to shut down the city for six extra unpaid "holidays" over the next two years.
The move is expected to save the city about $20 Million. The mayor hopes to save the city an additional $42 Million through an estimated 1,000 city layoffs next year, and by refraining to fill an estimated 1,350 vacancies across city departments. In total, 38,000 people work for the City of Chicago currently.
The savings will help bridge an estimated $469 Million Budget Gap projected for Chicago Fiscal Year 2009.
Considerably more savings will come from lease revenue from the proposed privatization of Midway Airport on the Southwest Side of Chicago, as well as Chicago Parking Meters, and increased taxes on sport and concert tickets, as well as parking in downtown garages. Our post via BlogChicagoHomes.com from last Sunday, October 12th, summarizes these proposed changes.
City Offices will close this year on the Friday after Thanksgiving Day, as well as on Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve, both this year and in 2009. Daley's original proposal, for unionized city workers to take off five unpaid days over the next four years, was rejected by the powerful Chicago labor unions.
The Mayor added employees would be called in, as needed, if Chicago experiences a major snowstorm, or other emergency, during the newly-scheduled off days.
Said Daley, "This is a very hard step to take but these are hard times. This is a good thing for the city, the taxpayers."
See Dan Mihalopoulos's story in today's Chicago Tribune for more info.
DEAN MOSS & DEAN'S TEAM CHICAGO
