La Quinta City Council approves plan to reduce workforce by 20.5%
The La Quinta City Council unanimously passed an ordinance that see a handful of furloughs and layoff for some city positions and eliminate some positions.
"It is a hard decision," said Councilmember John Peña.
The city will layoff 8 positions, partially layoff 2 more positions, and furlough 6 positions. In addition, 4 temporary positions will be eliminated and another 8 vacant positions will be defunded.
The move reduces the city's workforce from 117 positions to 93, a reduction of 20.5%.
We are working to confirm which positions will be impacted. City documents revealed that employees affected by the workforce reduction would receive their two-weeks notice that same day.
The City will fund and fill three vacant positions including an Account Technician in Finance, Administrative Assistant position in the City Clerk’s
Office, and a Code Compliance Officer II in Code Compliance.
According to city documents, this move will generate $1.8 million in savings that will help offset the projected budget deficit.
The city of La Quinta is facing a roughly $7 million loss to its $59 million budget due to hotel closures and a reduction in vacation rentals driven by the coronavirus pandemic.
La Quinta finance director Karla Romero told I-Team investigator Peter Daut last month that the city was "trying to find out if there's any possible reductions without affecting service levels."
FULL REPORT: Breaking down the budget of every valley city
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