Grand Rapids to cut 150 city employees

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (NEWSCHANNEL 3) – Newschannel 3 recently reported that city officials in Grand Rapids were struggling with the budget, and were looking at the potential of over 100 job cuts. That became a reality on Friday morning.

The next few days will be difficult ones for city employees in Grand Rapids as up to nine percent of all workers in the city will be laid off come Tuesday. On Friday, the city manager said he had no choice but to make the cuts.

They already know it's going to be the biggest downsizing of city employees in Grand Rapids in close to four decades, 150 workers will be out of work, and a big portion of the layoffs, perhaps up to 40 percent, will be firefighters and police officers.

"By law I must balance the city's budget and I don't have choices," said Grand Rapids City Manager Greg Sundstrom.

Sundstrom says the cuts are going to hurt, and that he knows it will be a difficult time as employees wait for the axe to fall.

"I am going to be proposing to layoff people I've known for a long time, and these are good people, good employees, but I have to do what I have to do," said Sundstrom, "we just can't afford them anymore."

City leaders in Grand Rapids have been cutting the budget for nearly ten years straight, the current problem is that the city's income tax is falling dramatically. Financial experts originally estimated that income tax receipts would be down five percent in 2009. Instead, revenues are already on pace to fall fifteen percent, and that's on top of a ten percent income tax decline the year previous.

On top of the tax loss, more difficulties are arising from cuts in aid from the state.

"So when we have revenue sharing cuts it directly takes police officers and firefighters off from the street," said Sundstrom.

The announcement is expected on Tuesday, specific workers will be notified on Wednesday, and just about every city department is expected to be affected.