Lansing’s mayor says a combination of employee furlough days and union concessions are necessary to shrink a $4.7 million budget gap next year. He laid out his budget plan to the city council last night.
Mayor Virg Bernero blames rising health insurance costs and declining property tax revenues for the budget gap.
“We need to make some serious decisions," says Brian Jeffries, the president of the Lansing City Council, "(The decisions are) going to be painful. Both in terms of the number of employees…as well as loss of services…and what does that actually means for the city.”
The Lansing city council has until mid-May to come up with any changes to the mayor’s spending plan.
