Common Council approves furloughs
Some employees to have hours cut to save money
The Milwaukee Common Council on Friday approved furloughs and reductions in employees’ hours to help address a projected revenue gap brought on by the economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic.
But council members also unanimously voted to require that any future service or workforce reductions come before the Common Council for review and approval. That includes a report on the impacts felt by each aldermanic district of reductions or changes in services.
Ald. Russell Stamper II, who proposed the change, said Friday that he disagreed with many of the proposed cuts by the Department of Public Works at a committee meeting earlier this week.
He wasn’t alone.
Ald. Milele Coggs had raised the issue of equity in cuts in committee earlier this week and said Friday that she had a problem with cuts not being looked at from an equity perspective from the beginning instead of inequities being caught in committee.
She said she and others would be introducing legislation requiring equity plans associated with any cuts.
“The fact that the examination of the impact on various communities and neighborhoods and different sectors of employees is not something that is a part of a discussion, that we’re talking about cuts, millions of dollars in potential cuts, is insane to me,” she said.
Between March and August, the city is anticipating a revenue shortfall of about $26.5 million.
On an 11-4 vote, the Common Council on Friday approved a plan to furlough 258 employees for one to three months and reduce the hours of 516 others. The measures are expected to save the city more than $3 million while also impacting city services. They are not expected to continue past July 31.
Alds. Ashanti Hamilton, Nikiya Dodd, Coggs and Chantia Lewis voted against the measure.
How the city will address the remaining projected revenue loss is still being worked out.
The council also unanimously approved a measure allowing the city to accept and spend $103 million in federal CARES Act funding for expenses related to the city’s response to the pandemic.