326 City Employees Placed on Temporary Emergency Leave Due to Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic
Toledo Mayor Wade Kapszukiewicz announced today during a virtual news conference on city operations that 326 employees will be placed on temporary emergency leave to address the budget shortfall due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The state of Ohio and the city of Toledo have declared states of emergency due to COVID-19,” Mayor Kapszukiewicz said. “We are taking necessary steps to protect the safety and welfare of our employees and residents. We must also unfortunately implement temporary emergency leave procedures in order to stabilize and manage the city’s finances, similar to other cities nationwide. The employees are extremely valued and did nothing wrong.”
Due to the COVID-19 impacts on the economy, revenue is projected to fall well short of the budget. The city’s general fund is projected to fall short of the budget and projections by $25 million to $50 million by the end of 2021.
The number of staff affected by department is as follows:
- Human Resources: 3
- Finance: 12
- Information, Communication, and Technology: 2
- Diversity and Inclusion: 2
- Neighborhoods: 25
- Law: 2
- Building Inspection: 2
- Plan Commission: 3
- Mayor’s Office: 1
- Public Utilities: 108
- Public Service: 141
- Fire: 13
- Police: 12
The reductions in police and fire are civilian employees, meaning there will be no loss of uniformed firefighters or police officers, the mayor said.
The temporary emergency leaves will be reevaluated every 30 days, he said.
Also today, Mayor Kapszukiewicz announced that completion of the city’s new Ozone Treatment Facility Project at the Collins Park Water Treatment Plant would be delayed.
“As a result of the pandemic, the project is losing days on its schedule and it is unlikely we will have that facility online by the scheduled completion date of August 3, 2020,” he said. “The contractor has committed to continuing installation of equipment as it is delivered but there are delays in the supply chain. Other problems include lost labor hours due to a reduced work force in order to meet social distancing mandates, increased sick time call-offs, and changes in work practices such as regular disinfection and no tool sharing.”
A recording of the virtual news conference may be downloaded at this link:https://wetransfer.com/downloads/eef58b657c3eb5252a5abaa673a7744620200416151252/f5b8c76f3cca38a317c185afbd9101e620200416151252/000f2a
The city of Toledo has compiled a list of services affected by the pandemic, and available resources, which can be found at this link: https://toledo.oh.gov/news/2020/08/19/update-from-the-city-of-toledo-mayor.
For information on COVID-19, please visit www.LucasCountyHealth.com. The 24/7 Lucas County Community COVID-19 Call Line Numbers are: 419-251-4000 (English only) and 419-291-5355 (multilingual). The public is asked to refrain from calling 911 unless it is a true emergency. Call 419-213-4161, press 4, and leave a message to report COVID-19 related concerns such as non-essential businesses operating, essential businesses not adhering to guidelines, or crowds gathering. The Ohio Department of Health COVID-19 website is www.Coronavirus.Ohio.Gov and the Ohio Department of Health hotline is 1-833-4-ASK-ODH (1-833-427-5634).