Web Extra!

Faced with a 2009 operating budget that is expected to fall far short of balanced by the end of the year, Brookfield’s village manager announced Thursday afternoon that he has laid off seven full-time and two part-time employees.

Those laid off come from all corners of village operations, from clerical staff in village hall to employees of the fire, police and public works departments. The move is expected to save Brookfield some $300,000 in salaries in benefits for fiscal year 2009, according to Finance Director Doug Cooper, and another $590,000 in 2010.

“This is always a difficult process … especially for those we have worked side by side with for some time, and for the organization as a whole,” said Ginex in a press statement.

Among those laid off are one firefighter, two members of the police telecommunicators union, two public works employees, a clerk in the village’s finance department, a clerical worker in the fire department, a part-time building inspector and a part-time clerk in the recreation department.

In addition, the village will not fill a vacant police officer position.

The last day of work for those laid off was today. However, union employees will continue to be paid for the next 30 days per their contracts, according to Ginex.

The layoffs come in the wake of a general alarm over the state of village finances sounded by officials back in February. At that time, Ginex said that all non-union employees would take five furlough days by Sept. 1 and offered an early-retirement incentive to employees. In addition, the village approached union employees and asked them to take part in the furlough program in order to prevent layoffs before September.

However, the unions declined to participate in the furloughs and no one came forward looking to retire.

In addition to the furloughs, Brookfield has also eliminated its spring Cleanup Week and has deferred purchases for two new police squads, new computer hardware and software and other initiatives. The hiring of a third full-time building inspector has also been deferred until at least 2010.

For a full report, see the May 6 edition of the Landmark.