Facing a historic budget deficit and continued fiscal threats from the federal government, Mayor Daniel Lurie’s office has instructed city departments to cut at least 500 jobs.
In an email sent to department heads late Monday afternoon, Sophia Kittler, the mayor’s budget director, said the city must eliminate at least $100 million in personnel spending, which equates to roughly 500 budgeted positions.
Some of the job cuts will be layoffs, Kittler said.
“The city can’t afford to sustain current spending on personnel costs,” she wrote. “Meeting this target requires eliminating filled positions.”
City departments have a March 12 deadline to respond. Departments are also expected to cut contracts and reduce overtime spending.
The budget office’s instructions come as the city faces an $877 million budget deficit. Much of it is being blamed on President Donald Trump’s federal reductions to healthcare spending.
The mayor’s office declined to comment, deferring to Kittler’s email, which was obtained by The Standard. Her correspondence noted to departments, “We appreciate your collaboration.”
How the cuts will affect each individual department was not immediately known. However, a slide deck shared with the Health Commission on Monday states that the health department — the largest in the city — will need to cut approximately $20 million in staff costs.
That equates to up to 100 staff members, or about 1% of the agency’s 7,766 employees. The department is also being instructed to cut $20 million in department contracts.