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Brothers and Sisters, On Wednesday, February 18th, City Manager Wes Hare held a meeting with City of Albany department heads and the leadership of the collective bargaining units that represent City of Albany employees. The purpose of the meeting was to describe the current and potential long term financial situation the City might find itself in if economic conditions continue to worsen, and to describe cost saving measures the City has already begun to implement. The City is concerned because expenditures are currently exceeding revenue, and the surplus funds the city has accumulated over the years are decreasing as they are being used to make up the difference. Because of this concern, the City Manager, City Department heads, some managers, and other administrative personnel have taken voluntary pay freezes for the upcoming fiscal year (July 09-July10). Financial projections were presented that showed a significant decrease in the fund surplus five years in the future. These projections assume that revenues remain constant with the usual mandated increases in property tax every year and that expenses remain at their current level. The City believes that revenues will most likely continue to decrease and is taking initial steps to mitigate the effect of decreased revenues on the fund surplus. The City Manager made it clear that the City intends to uphold the terms of its agreements with the various collective bargaining units. He stated that layoffs and/or hiring freezes were not currently planned, although at this time there is an approval process for filling recently vacated positions. The City is requesting that the various collective bargaining units consider the possibility of voluntarily freezing any salary increases for the upcoming fiscal year. The potential savings for the City over that fiscal year is just over $1 million. Although we share the City’s concerns about the potential for further economic downturn and subsequent reductions in City fund surpluses, the leadership of Local 845 and the various other collective bargaining units agreed that the City’s request seemed premature in light of the fact that there is little information about how significant or long lasting the economic downturn might be, and that there is currently a large surplus in the general fund. There is the possibility that this particular idea will be revisited if we continue to experience significant downturns in the economy. We would like to reiterate that at this time there is no reason to fear layoffs, hiring freezes or involuntary reductions in pay and benefits. Thanks for your time and I hope to see you all at the Union meeting on March 2nd at St. 11 at 1900 hrs. In Unionism, Katz
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