More than 4,000 St. Louis City workers will be forced to take pay cuts after the Board of Alderman approved a measure that would affect nearly all city departments.
Under the proposal, rank-and-file workers will be required to take unpaid leave for one week, while managers will take two weeks of unpaid leave.
The measure does not mandate the fire and police departments to take furloughs.
However, firefighters would be asked to “give back” 40 hours of vacation time. Workers will be required to take their furloughs before June 30, 2010.
The city is approaching the coming year with a budget shortfall of approximately $20 million.
Aldermanic President Lewis Reed said the budget shortfall comes from rising pension and health care costs and declining revenue.
Reed said if no furloughs were mandated, the city would have been required to eliminate 70 positions.
Information from KSDK.com contributed to this report.