Duluth Feeling Impact of Possible Govt. Shutdown
Thu, 06/23/2011 - 6:15pm
DULUTH- The impacts of a possible Minnesota government shutdown hit Duluth on Thursday, as city employees received their potential layoff notices. 16 City of Duluth employees received word that if the government shuts down on July 1st, they may be out of a job.
The notice came from Minnesota’s "Department of Employment and Economic Development" to the Workforce Development Division here in Duluth.
“Employees were notified that they may be, and I stress may be, subject to lay off 10 working days from now which would be effective Friday July 8th,” said City of Duluth Chief Administrative Officer, Dave Montgomery.
It wouldn’t just be those 16 employees affected; the Workforce Development Division helps nearly 700 people with job placement, training, and other career assistance programs.
With an unsettled budget, this is all part of a much larger state issue at hand.
“We're still uncertain about LGA and how much and whether it will be impacted ultimately. We do know as part of a state shutdown that we're likely not to receive our LGA allocation,” said Montgomery.
That Local Government Aid allocation is about $15 million dollars, and further layoffs could be dependent on what happens to that money.
The city says they have a number of contingency plans, and are working on alternatives so if they can, they will try to avoid these tough layoffs.
However, all of this hinges on what happens down in St. Paul with the budget.
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