SALEM — Some 30 jobs across nearly every city department, including the schools, will be eliminated under the proposed budget that Mayor Kim Driscoll will present to the City Council tonight.
The city will have to lay off workers and inflict deep cuts in almost every department to balance next year's proposed $122.3 million budget, the mayor said.
"It's going to take us a bit longer to get to things. I can't say it won't have an impact. ... You don't lose 30 positions and not feel it," she said.
More than half the jobs proposed for elimination are in the School Department. They include eight teachers, seven paraprofessionals and one administrative post, according to Driscoll. Most of the teaching jobs are specialists — those that teach subjects like music and physical education.
"We were trying not to impact classroom instruction," Driscoll said.
On the city side, about 14 jobs will be eliminated, impacting nearly all departments, from police to public works.
If there's any good news, it's that some of the 30 jobs were already cut earlier this year. Some vacant positions were never backfilled, and five longtime city employees who took buyouts in April will not be replaced.
Still, Driscoll estimates 20 employees will be handed pink slips before the new fiscal year begins on July 1.
Overall, Driscoll's budget is $2.8 million less than last year's adjusted budget. Each department will face reductions except one, Veterans Services, which will see a $150,000 boost.
"There's a lot more activity in that office with the ongoing wars," Driscoll said. A portion of the money is reimbursed 18 months later by the federal government.
The cuts and layoffs would not have been so severe if the city's unions had accepted proposed changes to their health insurance, Driscoll said. Switching to a plan with higher co-pays and lower premiums would have saved the city between $800,000 and $1.2 million.
Instead, only about 215 workers made the switch for a savings of about $150,000, the mayor said.
"Most employees will still have a $5 co-pay," Driscoll said. "... Nearly $1 million could have been saved, and that's a lot of jobs."
But Joyce Harrington, president of the teachers union — the largest of the city's eight collective bargaining units — said union workers have already agreed to pay more. Starting next year, they'll foot a 25 percent share of their health insurance premiums, a concession they made before the latest contract was signed.
"We have tried to work toward assisting the city," Harrington said. "People felt they kind of did their part by taking a 5 percent change on their premiums."
The mayor will brief the City Council tonight at 6 at City Hall, when the full details of the proposed layoffs and department cuts are expected to come out. The School Committee is expected to take up the budget next week.
Harrington said it's been a trying time for teachers. This will mark the third round of budget cuts since she became president in January 2006.
"There's not a lot of places to cut at the Salem Public Schools," Harrington said.
Staff writer Chris Cassidy can be reached at ccassidy@salem news.com.
