Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin’s administration issued approximately 40 layoff notices Wednesday across multiple city departments, his office confirmed.
The pink slips aren’t much of a surprise, as Bronin’s proposed budget for the fiscal year that begins July 1, which has not yet been approved by the city council, calls for 42 layoffs.
Combined with retirements and elimination of vacant positions, the total position cuts reach 96.
“Of the difficult decisions that need to be made to deal with our budget crisis, the toughest by far is the decision to eliminate a hardworking employee’s job,” Bronin said in a statement Wednesday.
Bronin’s spokesman Brett Broesder said the cuts would help close a $10 million deficit this fiscal year and a $48.5 million deficit projected for next year.
Bronin has also called for $15 million in union concessions and other cost-cutting measures. He said Wednesday that he hoped labor negotiations would help him avoid issuing further layoff notices.
The layoffs detailed in Bronin’s proposed budget include seven non-uniformed police employees, seven public-works employees, seven finance employees, five corporation counsel employees, and four health and human-services employees, among others.
Broesder confirmed that the laid off workers will not receive severance packages, but will have city health insurance coverage through the end of the fiscal year.
