Lauri Harvey Keagle, Times of Northwest Indiana
Lauri.Keagle@nwi.com
HAMMOND | If Hammond Mayor Thomas McDermott Jr. gets his way, the city will lose 40 positions while remaining government employees receive 3 percent pay raises totaling nearly $1 million in 2010.
Of the positions listed to be eliminated in the mayor's budget proposal are 10 police officers and nine firefighters.
"We had 210 officers and not all of them were pulling their weight," McDermott said during a Tuesday morning meeting with The Times Editorial Board. "We're finding those officers and encouraging them to seek second careers."
McDermott presented his budget proposal to the City Council on Monday.
The Drug Abuse Resistance Education and Gang Resistance Education and Training programs, which send police officers into schools to educate kids about the dangers of gangs and drugs, also would be eliminated as would the officers assigned to Neighborhood Crime Watch meetings.
McDermott stressed that police patrols and "manpower on the streets" will not be impacted by the cuts.
"Everybody loves firemen, and nobody tells the mayor they want to see less police on the streets. ... Police, in my opinion, are what most people associate public safety with," he said.
Robert Lendi, city controller, said some of the 40 positions proposed for elimination already were vacated in 2009 and not filled. Other current employees are expected to take advantage of voluntary buyouts offered by the city.
And still others would be laid off if their positions are eliminated.
Nearly every city department would lose positions under the budget proposal, including the mayor's office.
The cuts in staffing -- from 882 full-time employees in 2004 to 618 employees projected for 2010 -- "make it easier for us to deal with self-insurance," the mayor said.
At the same time, the mayor is calling for 3 percent pay raises for all city employees totaling $972,000. McDermott said 75 percent of the city's staff are union members and will receive 3 percent raises as part of their collective bargaining agreements.
"It doesn't seem fair that the only people who don't get pay raises this year are nonunion," McDermott said, adding that many now are doing three times the work they did previously because of cuts in other positions.
The budget proposal eliminates overtime from all departments except the Police Department and cuts all part-time positions except for crossing guards in the Police Department.
One new position is proposed for graffiti removal. In the past, the work was handled by City Court, but with the proposal to eliminate the court, McDermott believes the position should fall under the jurisdiction of the Police Department's gang unit.
McDermott listed the elimination of six city departments, a 25 percent reduction in the city's tax levy, a 30 percent reduction in city staff and a $2 million reduction in the overall budget since taking office in 2004 among his financial successes.
Lendi cautioned that taxpayers may see an overall tax increase on their tax bills but said the increases will come from the School City of Hammond to pay off their debt, not from the city.