Niles mayor furloughs 12 to reduce deficit

NILES

Mayor Thomas Scarnecchia ordered layoffs of 12 city employees Tuesday, attributing them to the city’s rapidly increasing deficit.

His decision to issue the furloughs, six of them in the safety forces, came after state auditors advised the mayor that there is not enough money in the general fund to sustain the current payroll.

Scarnecchia said the layoffs, effective Feb. 10, are three police officers, three firefighters, and six employees in other city departments. City labor contracts require two-week notices for layoffs, which the mayor said will be based on seniority.

“This is the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do,” said Scarnecchia. The mayor took office Jan. 1.

Not included are employees in the electric, water and sewer departments, whose budgets do not come out of the general fund.

At last week’s city council meeting, a state auditor liaison admonished the mayor for failing to implement a financial recovery plan to get out of fiscal emergency — where Niles has been since October 2014. Scarnecchia said he was hoping to find some alternative funding in an effort to save jobs, but conceded Tuesday that no money is available.

Read more about the situation in Wednesday's Vindicator or on Vindy.com.