UPDATE: Euclid Laying Off Safety Forces

Newsnet5 reports that the City of Euclid is laying off ten police officers and six firefighters.  Furthermore,  four retiring firefighters will not be replaced.  These steps were taken in effort to combat a $3 million budget deficit.

Disclaimer: You may wonder why the talk about Ashtabula and Euclid today; we are interested in what is happening to our neighbors.

These are tough times.  Tough times call for drastic measures.

It makes us very sad to see anyone lose their job, it truly does.  However, we have to start facing the tough realties of our present time: finances are not going to get any better anytime soon.
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The News-Herald has more in-depth coverage of the budget, layoff, etc. issues in the City of Euclid.

Of course, the threats from the Administration of the City of Euclid, by Mayor Cervenik, continue.  The article makes it clear that Police and fire will be laid off, even if the proposed garbage and lighting fees are OK'd by Euclid Council.  These fees include a 1.25 mill charge for street lighting and $14 fee for garbage collection ($8 if you have a homestead exemption).

Mayor Cervenik points out in the article that the cause for these budget problems is a $2.5 million decrease in City Income Tax revenue, and that the budget he presented is lower than the 2007 budget--Cervenik said  that it is just a matter of reduced revenue.

While we understand these issues the simple fact is that Government must get used to lower and declining revenue; learn to live within the means you have!