Metro is looking to lay off 60 employees and slash up to 90 more empty positions as part of its emergency plan to cover a $40 million budget hole caused by faltering ridership.
The cuts are on top of a slate of options that Metro is taking to the public this month, which include cutting train and bus service, raiding capital funds, or raising fares by up to 10 cents per ride.
The emergency steps come as the agency has seen ridership drop below last year’s levels, bringing in less fare money than anticipated to help cover the current $1.4 billion operating budget.
The layoffs and job cuts are slated to primarily hit administrative workers, but some who make the trains and buses run could also be canned, said Metro spokesman Steven Taubenkibel. The exact jobs to be cut are still being determined, he said, but the pink slips are due by the end of March.
An additional 101 empty bus driver, train operator or mechanic slots could also be lost if the board of directors opts to cut service, as there would be fewer buses and trains to operate each day, he said.
Employee compensation is the biggest drain on the agency, typically representing about 70 percent of Metro’s costs through salaries and benefits for its nearly 10,000-strong work force.
The job reductions already on the table are expected to save Metro $2.2 million for the last part of the year. The amount of money saved from salaries and benefits covers only four months of the remaining budget year, Assistant General Manager and Chief Financial Officer Carol Kissal told board members last week. But the job cuts will lead to bigger savings for next year’s budget when calculated over a full year.
That, too, will be important as the agency is facing an even bigger challenge filling an estimated $175 million gap in the next budget, which begins July 1.
That, too, will be important as the agency is facing an even bigger challenge filling an estimated $175 million gap in the next budget, which begins July 1.
The number of job cuts represents an increase from Metro’s earlier estimates. Last month, agency officials said they expected to lay off 25 workers plus cut about 100 vacant positions. But Taubenkibel said the chopping block now has 60 filled positions, plus 90 more vacant jobs.
Metro has already cut hundreds of jobs to make the current budget work. Last spring, the agency eliminated 313 jobs, at least 40 of them filled. Taubenkibel said Friday none of those positions had been refilled.
General Manager John Catoe also got rid of six officers from his 16-member executive leadership team last month. Metro could not provide an estimate Friday of how much that will save the agency this budget year. But Catoe had estimated that cutting the first two executives and their support staffs saved about $500,000. Some of the executive positions are slated to be refilled, though.
