Fiscal Pinch May Cost 32 Jobs

The city of Hawthorne may have to eliminate a fire station and lay off as many as 32 employees to resolve a $2.5-million budget deficit for 1989-90, City Manager R. Kenneth Jue said last week.

Jue said the city budget is “in serious trouble” because paramedic fees and sales tax revenues have not met expectations. Those revenues were $1.1 million short of projections in 1988-89 and are expected to be short $1.1 million again in 1989-90, Jue said.

Layoffs could include as many as 12 firefighters, four police officers and workers from various other departments, Jue said.

A committee of key department heads at City Hall has recommended an alternative proposal to resolve the deficit by raising city fees. If adopted by the council at a budget hearing Aug. 21, this plan would generate slightly more than the necessary $2.5 million needed to balance the city’s $44.8-million budget for 1989-90.