By Jeremy Carroll
C & G Staff Writer

ROYAL OAK — Staring massive budget deficits in the face, the Royal Oak City Commission voted to give notice to the city’s 10 employee groups that layoffs are coming, as early as April 30.

The city may lay off as much as 30 percent of its workforce, or 72 of the 234 people employed by Royal Oak. If the budget cuts are spread equally throughout each department, the city would lay off 32 sworn personnel in the Police Department and 23 firefighters.

“What we are facing is unlike anything we’ve seen in Michigan since the Great Depression,” City Manager Don Johnson said, in recommending the layoff notices be sent during a March 1 City Commission meeting.

The city is expected to receive 10 percent less in property tax revenue this year, and the same for 2011-2012.

Royal Oak has cut approximately 90 employees since 2004, when the city began an attrition plan of not replacing employees when they retired or left the city. But partly because retirements are not happening as planned, the city is facing a potential $3.6 million deficit this year, and another $5.8 million deficit in 2010-2011.

The plan detailed in a 45-page report is a result of Johnson asking department heads to outline the cuts they would need to make if there was a 25 percent reduction in each of their budgets.

“We have to right-size this government and we have to live within our means,” said Commissioner Jim Rasor. “We are all in this together.”

The commission approved the plan to send layoff notices to employee groups, but not specific employees yet. They also asked Johnson to approach each group to ask for concessions in their current contracts.

Commissioner Terry Drinkwine, a retired Royal Oak police officer, said actually pulling the trigger on layoffs would be extremely difficult.

“This is as real as it gets, the situation we are in,” he said.

According to the report, the city has 40 employees who are eligible to retire, and 14 of them that have maximized their pension benefits. The city has another 23 employees who will be eligible to retire in another year, and another 22 that could retire before the end of the 2011-2012 budget.

Johnson said he didn’t want to advocate for retirement incentives, but said they may want to consider an early retirement option for those close to the age of retirement.

“The changes in this report will change Royal Oak forever,” Mayor Jim Ellison said. “This is the ugliest thing I’ve ever had to do as a public official.”

Resident Nancy Barnett pleaded with city officials not to cut police and fire budgets as they had outlined doing. The cuts would leave the city with 47 sworn personnel in the Police Department, less than half the total the department had in 2003.

“There is no way you can keep order with numbers that low,” she said.

Firefighter Jim Hodson told the commission that mass layoffs would only help in the short term and that the action would not be sustainable.

“Let’s get a task force together and charge them with a mission of 30 days,” he suggested. “We know what the problem is, and let’s figure it out.”

Johnson said he is hopeful the various employee groups will work with them on concessions on already approved contracts. Most city employees are currently scheduled to receive a 2 percent raise July 1.

You can reach Staff Writer Jeremy Carroll at jcarroll@candgnews.com or at (586) 279-1110.