Barrington lays off 13 to balance budget

It's hardly news that economic times are tough, but Barrington officials are taking the rare step of laying off municipal employees to balance its 2009 budget.

Village officials notified 13 workers Wednesday that their jobs are being eliminated immediately or by the end of the year.

These cuts will address the downturn in village revenues but still leave questions over police department staffing when Inverness breaks away to form its own force in May.

"These have been tough decisions, but I think the board wants to make sure we are sized to sustain the economic trends right now, at least for the next two years," Village Manager Denise Pieroni said.

The job cuts are expected to save the village $1.5 million per year and insure it holds onto a minimum of three months' operating reserves.

Ten full-time jobs and three part-time are being eliminated. Four more full-time jobs are being reduced to part-time, Pieroni said.

Two full-time police department positions that are currently vacant are also slated for elimination.

Many of those affected are support staff members, though public works is probably the department hardest hit, she added. One consideration was whether some jobs were needed year-round or could be made more seasonal.

Pieroni said the village's goal is still to provide a high level of community service.

One difference the public might see is a tougher prioritization of snow plow service rather than the expansion of it considered several months ago, Pieroni said. Also, there might be instances where a water main break is repaired by contractors rather than village staff, for example.

The layoffs don't mean a complete hiring freeze for the village as there are still some fire department vacancies considered necessary to be filled, Pieroni said.

The only other time she remembers the village having layoffs was when the community development department was disbanded in the early '90s. But the number of positions lost was fewer than now.

In fact, the number of jobs eliminated this time was slightly more than 10 percent of village staff, Pieroni said.

When Inverness ends its contract for police service next spring, the number of sworn officers needed in Barrington will drop from 34 to about 24, she added. Even with two existing vacancies and six imminent retirements, there still could be two extra positions, barring further attrition.

Other area communities are also experiencing hard times, but expect to avoid layoffs - for now. These include Schaumburg, Hoffman Estates, Palatine, Bartlett and Streamwood.

Hoffman Estates, however, has already offered early retirement to some employees as a way of making ends meet.

• Staff writers Ashok Selvam and Kimberly Pohl contributed to this report.