MyFoxLA, by Susan Hirasuna, May 17, 2010

Los Angeles – The Los Angeles City Council on Monday night approved a $6.7 billion budget for 2010-2011 fiscal year that called for laying off up to 761 employees and furloughing thousands of others by July 1 unless unions make concessions.

City Council President Eric Garcetti estimated that the unions representing city workers would have to come up with “probably about $100 million” in concessions such as pay cuts, increases in their medical and pension contributions and elimination of bonuses within the next month and a half to save jobs and prevent drastic service reductions.

Further layoffs — up to 1,000 — could come on Oct. 1 if the city fails to realize projected revenue from the lease of its parking garages, fines for banks that do not maintain foreclosed homes, and increased documentary transfer taxes.

By giving up some of its discretionary funds and supporting a $5 increase in parking citation fines, the council averted the closure of an animal shelter and restored funding for gang intervention programs as well as parks in troubled neighborhoods.

Hours before the vote, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa sent a letter urging the council to wait until Friday before approving a budget, in hopes that a deal could be reached with unions before then, but the council ignored the request.

“What we said loud and clear to our city administrative officer (the city’s chief labor negotiator) is that the best way that we can help him negotiate is to be clear with the numbers (the value of the concessions being sought),” Garcetti said.

“The sooner we arrive at those decisions, the sooner he (the city administrative officer) can sit down, look eye-to-eye with our union partners and say, ‘This is the amount — how can we solve this together?”