HARTFORD, CT(WFSB) -
Mayor Pedro E. Segarra said in a release Friday afternoon that no less than 12 employees who work for the city of Hartford will be laid off to meet the 2012-2013 budget.
"To contemplate layoffs is very difficult for me. I do not like - nor do I want - to lay any one off, but I have an obligation to every taxpayer to meet a balanced budget and I intend to do just that," he said in release Friday. "I want to remind everyone that we faced a more than $50 million deficit in FY 12-13, more than $30 million was a result of revaluation, and working collaboratively with Council, we closed that gap and reduced overall spending by more than $7 million."
The release stated that the majority of the layoffs will be from middle management positions with an average per employee saving of $80,000. Two post ions from the office of the chief operating officer will also be eliminated from the budget.
"At this time I anticipate a large majority of the layoffs would come from the mid-management ranks as is consistent with my philosophy of continually looking at ways to minimize bureaucratic red-tape and increase efficiency and accountability among front-line staff," Segarra said.
All "non-unionized classified and unclassified city-side employees, including police, fire command staffs and non-sworn personnel" will be required to take furlough days, the release said.
The employees will be notified on Sept. 21 and their last day of work will be Oct. 7, the release said.
The mayor's office did not comment any further.
Copyright 2012 WFSB (Meredith Corporation). All rights reserved.
