Tuesday, August 09, 2011

"Pensions are swallowing up the city."

So states City of Hollywood (FL) Commissioner Beam Furr, as quoted this morning in the Miami Herald. The main lament of that article is that the city is cutting $200,000 of social service grants.

The Herald has been following the city's struggles with its three unions over the city's pension obligations. The negotiations have not been going well for the city. Accordingly, the city commission declared "financial urgency," which it believes authorized it to slash the salaries of general city employees by 7.5 percent and police and fire employees by 12 percent. The matter of cutting those salaries is before Florida Public Employee Relations Commission, and there will be an evidentiary hearing in a month or two.

The city has a $10 million deficit running for the current fiscal year, which ends on September 30, and, according to the Herald, for "the fiscal year beginning Oct. 1, the city must close a $38 million gap."

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