St. Louis County will be cutting 52 employees and potentially 24 parks employees, announced St. Louis County Executive Charlie A. Dooley Tuesday.
The departmental cutbacks include:
- A reduction of 52 funded positions within the budget (32 full-time, 20 part-time);
- A forecast layoff of 24 people from the Parks Department (20 full-time, 4 part-time);
- A reduction in park maintenance activities – trash pickup, restroom cleaning, etc.;
- A reduction in services – shorter pool seasons and the elimination of some programs;
- Elimination of some capital equipment replacement (trucks, tractors, mowers); and
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- Playground replacement – Bee Tree Park;
- Boat ramp renovation – Creve Coeur Park;
- Restroom renovation – Creve Coeur Park; and
- Window, roof, and restroom work – Jefferson Barracks Park
In December staff reductions received the unanimous backing of the St. Louis County Council when a budget compromise was reached on Dec. 6, 2011.
“This was a tough decision, but a compromise in the best sense of the word. We made these very tough choices in order to keep all of the parks open. I appreciate the full support of the council in tackling these issues in difficult financial times,” said St. Louis County Executive Charlie A. Dooley, “I look forward to working together to find a fiscally sound solution to the budgetary problems in the parks department.”
Future staffing and service decisions will be necessary to balance the parks department’s 2013 budget.