Windfall saves city jobs on The Murfreesboro Post

Sidebar Ads

Windfall saves city jobs

Related Articles

City leaders honor former vice mayor

Murfreesboro wins accounting award

New City Council is sworn in

Bratcher serves as vice mayor for final time

Gilley named Rutherford County Republican of Year

New faces for City Council, School Board

Election 2012: Murfreesboro School Board

Civic Pride Awards honor best in Murfreesboro

Murfreesboro appoints new IT director

Traffic Update: City Construction Projects

View All

By: MICHELLE WILLARD, Post Staff Writer

Posted: Friday, June 5, 2009 12:51 pm

Murfreesboro will not lay off any employees, thanks to an unexpected windfall.

“We are suspending our recommendation to lay off employees,” Deputy City Manager Rob Lyons said to the city council Thursday at its first budget hearing.

The lay offs are no longer necessary to balance the budget thanks to an additional from county-shared bond proceeds.

The city will use $1 million of the windfall to pay for its current debt, which frees up cash to save the jobs.

The city will also add some much needed cash to the budget of the fire department, solid waste, St. Clair Senior Center, parks and recreation department, community development and fleet services.

Even though this is good news for now, Lyons warned any reductions in state-shared revenue could put the jobs back on the chopping block.

In the proposed budget, City Manager Roger Haley proposed lay offs to balance the budget for $520,000 in savings with job cuts to the administration, planning, codes, solid waste and fleet services departments.

No individuals had been identified.

Haley also recommended leaving frozen and vacant positions unfilled, because it doesn’t affect any active employees and saves the city more than $994,000.

The unfilled positions are scattered throughout city departments and include 18 police officers. The police jobs may be funded by stimulus money, if the cities COPS Hiring Program grant is approved.

Michelle Willard can be contacted at 615-869-0816 or mwillard@murfreesboropost.com.

Tagged under City, City Budget, Rob Lyons, Roger Haley

Member Opinions:

By: bota on 6/5/09
Pay down debt? Good move Rob! That is the kind of thinking the city needs for a change.