Amid meltdown, cities cut sports, cops, health

updated 6:03 p.m. ET Oct. 19, 2008

PHOENIX - The palm trees in many Phoenix neighborhoods will be left shaggy this year. The city can afford to prune the trees only on major streets.

There's also no money for children's tee ball, or soccer, baseball or flag football. No money for a free shuttle service for the elderly. No money for most inner-city "fight back" programs that tackle blight.

Around the country, the mortgage crisis and the slumping economy are causing tax revenue and investment returns to plummet, forcing cities big and small to cut expenses.

"You're going to start to see across-the-board cuts in services," said Chris Hoene, director of policy and research at the National League of Cities. "Every service — police, fire, libraries, recreation — will see some cuts. And you start to see layoffs. You won't see the same number of police on the streets."

At the center of the financial meltdown, in New York City, officials expect 165,000 job losses overall in the next two years, including as many as 35,000 in the financial services industry. Mayor Michael Bloomberg ordered all city agencies to slash spending by $500 million now and $1 billion for fiscal year 2010. The city also is mulling new ways to raise money, like putting ads on the sides of garbage trucks and street sweepers.

In New Jersey, Gov. Jon Corzine is warning hundreds of cities and towns to start teaming up and combining essential services or face a reduction in state aid.

Job cuts planned
In Chicago, Mayor Richard Daley plans to lay off more than 900 city workers and eliminate nearly 1,350 vacant jobs to help cover a $469 million shortfall. Daley's budget also increases taxes on parking and sports tickets and gives city workers three unpaid days off around the holidays — the day after Thanksgiving, the day before Christmas, and the day before New Year's — to save $20 million. That's on top of numerous tax increases already imposed.

"The little man, the worker bees are totally forgotten," said Paula Chiano, 51, a court reporter in Chicago and a single mom. "Everything is harder."

In Oakland, Calif., an estimated $42 million deficit has Mayor Ron Dellums proposing shutting down City Hall one day a week, eliminating 84 city jobs, imposing hiring freezes and cutting other services.

Brad Walters, a circulation manager at the Oakland Public Library, said the library will cut programs for the disabled and elderly, its bookmobile and its literacy programs.

Walters, president of a municipal employees union with about 2,000 full-timers, said closing the city one day a week means he and his members will lose 20 percent of their pay. "I lose 20 percent of my pay, I can lose my house," he said.

Towns across the Midwest already reeling from a spike in the price of road salt say the downturn in the economy will mean more snow on the roads this winter. "People won't be able to expect to drive on a road in the dead of winter that is completely clear of snow and ice," said Watertown, Wis., Mayor Ron Krueger.

MORE FROM LIFE

Life Section Front

Tropical storm rumbles ashore in Ala. Dropout, 21, wins $8.55 million poker event Suicides raise worries about recession’s real cost Recession’s good news: Burglaries fall Trucker dies as rig plunges off S.F. bridge Philly transit system running as strike ends Utah girl’s pierced nose brings suspension Jobless: 10 percent is tougher than it used to be Life Section Front   Add Life headlines to your news reader: