Lake County to cut 45 jobs by year's end

BY BILL DOLAN, Times of Northwest Indiana
bdolan@nwitimes.com

CROWN POINT | Ten Lake County officeholders and department heads said Tuesday morning they will cut a collective 45 full-time and part-time jobs before the end of the year.

Those promises inaugurated the 2009 Lake County government budget hearings and are in sharp contrast to previous years in which every official demanded more money for the future.

Lake County Council President Christine Cid, D-East Chicago, said in a keynote speech that the county must cut $15 million from its current budget of $132 million because of permanent revenue shortfalls that will be caused by state-mandated property tax cuts.

Dante Rondelli, the council's finance director, said more job cuts, revenue increases and other financial strategies will be needed beyond the morning's promises to get the budget in line.