The Rock Island County Board will have to cut jobs to balance next year's budget. On Tuesday, voters rejected a proposed sales tax hike for public safety. Michelle O'Neill reports.
County Administrator, Dave Ross, says he'll meet with board members this week and next, to decide which capital projects to eliminate from the budget plan. All the cuts will have to come from public safety and judicial.
The county employs 277 full-time workers in the jail and sheriff's department, state's attorney's office, courts and court services, plus other divisions.
If the county board decides not to cut capital projects, the 81 layoffs would amount to a 29% reduction in public safety and court staff.
Last March, Rock Island County laid off four employees and changed job designations to save about $200,000 a year. And in May, about half of the county's union workers agreed to a two-year wage freeze and gave up a paid holiday.
