City Employees Face Layoffs

About 24 employees of Newport Beach could lose their jobs as the city looks for ways to cut $9 million from its budget for the coming fiscal year.

Newport's approximately 800 employees were informed this week that City Manager Dave Kiff's proposed budget includes layoffs, according to a statement from the city. Layoffs would affect both part- and full-time employees, the city said.

“I understand this news has created anxiety as employees have patiently awaited the potential fate of their positions,” Kiff said in the statement. “This is a draft budget that could change as the council’s budget hearings progress, but we believe straightforward, early information is what our staff and community deserve."

For fiscal year 2012-13, according to the city, Kiff plans to hack another $6 million out of the budget, which, in addition to the $9 million to be cut for fiscal year 2011-12, amounts to a 10 percent reduction to the Newport's approximately $150-million general fund budget over two years.

“We reduced the city’s general fund budget by $8 million in 2010 to compensate for revenues lost during the economic downturn,” Kiff said. “We stabilized the budget and looked ahead two years to see the next set of costs coming. The City Council directed us to prepare the city’s finances to absorb the impact and that’s exactly what our proposed fiscal year 2011-12 budget reflects.”

The proposed budget will be made public later this month, the city said.