LAYOFFS POSSIBLE
TO BALANCE BUDGET
Lindberg Sees 50, Maybe 80; Others See Less
COOPERSTOWN – Perhaps 50 county employees, perhaps as many as 80, will have to be laid off to balance this year’s budget, county Budget Review Committee chair Don Lindberg, R-Worcester, said today.
“But I can’t see this board doing it,” he said.
While not foreseeing cuts to the extent Lindberg does, both county Board Chair Kathy Clark, R-Otego, and Treasurer Dan Crowell acknowledged layoffs as a possibility.
The three were commenting after Lindberg’s Budget Review Committee pared a $9.2 million budget gap. The county budget gap now stands at $4.3 million, down from $9.2 million. Today, the Budget Review Committee made a significant cut of $700,000 to the Department of Social Services.
“There is not a strong desire to do it,” said Crowell. “We will do everything possible to avoid it, but we will do it if we have to.”
“At this point I don’t know how we close a $4.3 million gap,” said Clark. “We’ll see what people are willing to vote on, but some employees might have to go from full to part-time.”
– Don Mathisen for allOTSEGO.com
The very people who seem to be studying the County shortfall are the same ones who have consistently voted for increasesin budgets. Check committee budgets and then call them out as the hypocrites they are.