Sam's Club closure forcing more layoffs in Rolling Meadows

Laying off two employees and not filling four vacant positions will get the City of Rolling Meadows half way toward dealing with the loss of $600,000 in annual taxes that Sam's Club produced.

The City Council will discuss a proposal to cut staff at its regular meeting at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday.

Two employees in the police department will be laid off if the council approves the recommendation, said City Manager Sarah Phillips. They are the records management supervisor and the senior community service officer.

The combination of layoffs and leaving positions vacant will save the city $300,000, she said.

In the near future the staff also hopes to recommend renting city land for a billboard, Phillips added.

As the city searches for revenue enhancements like this, the council has made it clear there will be no more tax or fee increases for city residents, she said.

The council raised the city's property tax levy 15.5 percent for 2010, closed the Police Neighborhood Resource Center and laid off one other person in the police department, Phillips said late last year.

However, she said at that time the city was down 34 full-time positions since cuts started during 2008. That left 167 full-time employees for 2010 and 28 part time, including 13 seasonal workers.

Hours of service at city hall have also been cut.

The city's general fund budget for 2010 was $25.4 million before the announcement of the Sam's Club closing. The store closed at the end of January.

In 2009, expenses in the general fund had been budgeted at $25.3 million but were cut to $24 million during the year because of falling revenue.

The real estate transfer tax, food and beverage tax, hotel-motel tax and sales and income taxes were hit hard, said Phillips.