Rochester budget proposal could include announcement about layoffs
Written by Site Hub on April 30, 2020
Mayor Lovely Warren will make a budget proposal announcement by May 15 to meet the City of Rochester’s June 1 budget deadline for 2021. Given the economic crisis caused by the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, Mayor Warren is expected to announce worker layoffs. Although the city normally employs approximately 3,000 workers, an unknown number of “non-essential” workers were furloughed last week.
Rochester was already dealing with a $28.8 million shortfall in revenues prior to the pandemic. Sales tax losses from business closures have only created a worse problem for city officials. They expect at least a 30 percent loss in revenue.
As Malik Evans, the head of the City Council’s finance committee, explained to ABC WHAM 13: “It’s very difficult to get sales tax revenues from businesses that aren’t operating… We also get a sizable amount of hotel-motel taxes, and people aren’t coming to the region and staying in hotels.”
City officials are in the process of considering whether to lay off workers who could earn as much as they’re making currently or more with unemployment benefits. Yet, although New York state has paid out nearly 3.1 billion in unemployment benefits to-date, the state is running out of funds, which means that many workers won’t receive any income.
Evans believes the federal government must step in: “It is incumbent on the federal government to provide relief to states and local governments to be able to deal with the situation that was not any of our fault.”
At the federal level, officials are currently debating two bills that would offer states financial relief.
https://13wham.com/news/local/mayor-warrens-budget-proposals-due-as-covid-uncertainties-mount
