Detroit Mayor Dave Bing announced 1000 layoffs Friday.
Detroit faces a $45 million budget gap this fiscal year—and is poised to run out of cash by April.
Bing says the layoffs represent important savings—but they won’t close Detroit’s budget gap. He says city unions need to take a 10% pay cut.
“We have to talk to the union. If we don’t get concessions from the unions, none of the plans will work,” Bing said bluntly.
Bing gave the unions until Monday to agree, but talks between the two sides have gone nowhere.
Bing also insists he’s determined to go after tens of millions of dollars in revenue sharing the state owes Detroit from more than a decade ago.
“The state owes the city of Detroit $220 million,” Bing said. “I’m not afraid to ask for it, I’ve asked for it, I’m going after it.”
Republican leaders in Lansing have balked at Bing’s request.
Bing also says he won't submit the city's finances for a state review--something that Governor Snyder has said he "expected" Bing would do in light of Detroit's precarious situation.
