The New York City mayor stated that he will mandate everyone who works in his office to take a 5-day unpaid furlough due to a budget shortfall.
What We Know:
- Mayor Bill de Blasio stated the city had lost $9 billion in revenue because of the coronavirus pandemic. The city has cut the budget by $7 billion, yet cost savings are still needed.
- The layoffs will start on October 1st and will be extended until March 2021. The Mayor also mentioned he will also be part of the furlough. The unpaid time off is suggested to save about $1 million.
- The Mayor stated, it is a step that you never want to see for hardworking, good people. He went on to say that it’s with pain he had to announce that employees and their families will have to lose a week’s pay and its something that has to be done.
- There is a total of about 500 employees in the Mayor’s office. There was already a hiring freeze put in place and other cuts were made to save about $12 million.
- When de Blasio was asked if there could be a possibility this might be extended to the entire city workforce, he answered that they are looking into all options.
- Fiscal hawks have called on the city to order more cuts before turning to borrow more money. The city has asked for permission to borrow roughly $5 billion. De Blasio anticipates the furloughs, first reported by The New York Times, would help convince Albany lawmakers he is firm about cutting back.
- New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo rejected in following the Mayor’s lead in placing himself on furlough and took a swipe at the city’s quality of life.
De Blasio stated decisions such as furloughing other city workers instead of doing layoffs could be taken into consideration. Cuts could also be accomplished by wage freezes or early retirements, although unions would have to agree to such decisions. At the same time, the city has the legal authority to do layoffs unilaterally.
