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<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />Office of the Mayor <br /> <br />NEWS RELEASE <br />August 12, 2009 <br />3:30 p.m. <br /> <br />Mayor’s Office, Building Department downsize staff <br /> <br />Contact: <br />Mikki Dobski, Director of Communications & Special Projects, 235-5855 or 876-1564 <br /> <br />As it today completes its initial schedule of departmental hearings to review the proposed <br />2010 City budget, the South Bend Common Council reviews two very different <br />departments that are experiencing the same long-term trend: downsizing staff. <br /> <br />The Mayor’s Office and the Building Department have cut a combined seven (7) full- <br />time positions in response to the revenue decline experienced by the City of South Bend <br />as a result of the state’s property tax caps. While the staff cuts mean the elimination of <br />some activities supported by staff, for the most part they impact the departments’ overall <br />work capacity and response time. <br /> <br />“Citywide, personnel costs account for 80 percent of our budget. For many departments, <br />any revenue cuts inevitably mean a reduction in personnel,” said Mayor Stephen J. <br />Luecke. “We still are performing the same overall functions, but trying to do so with <br />more deliberate priorities, greater efficiency and tighter resources.” <br /> <br />Between 2007 and 2010, the Mayor’s Office has reduced its staff by 30 percent, from 10 <br />full-time positions to 7. The three positions cut include an Assistant to the Mayor and two <br />Communications & Special Projects support staff. <br /> <br />This year, Mayor Steve Luecke took a voluntary 5 percent salary reduction along with the <br />two Assistant Mayors, the Director of Communications and Special Projects, and the <br />Director of Secretarial Services. In 2010, the two remaining staff in the Mayor’s Office <br />will take a 5 percent salary reduction. (All Department Heads took 5 percent salary <br />reductions in 2009.) <br /> <br />The Mayor’s Office budget was reduced by $75,920 in 2009 and $160,389 in 2010, a <br />combined reduction of 27 percent over two years. In addition to salary and benefit cuts, <br />the proposed 2010 budget of $646,342 includes a reduction in funding for a federal <br /> <br />