Miami said to declare "financial urgency" in talks

MIAMI (Reuters) - Miami officials, who are seeking $40 million in union concessions, plan to declare "financial urgency," which would allow the Florida city to unilaterally alter employee contracts, the Miami Herald's website said on Thursday.

Quoting Mayor Tomas Regalado, the newspaper said the declaration would be issued by City Manager Johnny Martinez on Thursday and would yield savings needed to balance the city's $485 million annual operating budget.

"The unions are not cooperating with the process," Regalado told the Herald. "We need to have a balanced budget."

Regalado and Martinez have not been available to comment on the report. Other city officials declined to comment.

Miami officials are pushing for the concessions from the city's four government workers' unions as part of a plan to plug a $60 million gap in a $485 million budget. Overtime limits for firefighters and higher health insurance contributions are among the city's proposals.

Part of the budget shortfall is caused by the scheduled expiration of temporary concessions made last year by police and other unions. Almost 80 percent of Miami's budget goes to compensate city workers.

Labor leaders told city commissioners on Thursday that Miami's unions had made substantial give-backs to help ease financial pressure on the city. Firefighters said their pay has been reduced by 35 percent in recent years, when the city declared financial urgency three times.

Miami was losing experienced workers and having difficulties recruiting new ones because of the cutbacks, union leaders said. They said the city should consider increasing property taxes that Regalado has proposed reducing.

Stung especially hard by the U.S. housing collapse, Miami used Florida's financial urgency law in May 2010 to change labor terms that saved the city $80 million. Other Florida cities, such as nearby Hollywood, have also used the law to force pay cuts on government workers.

The housing collapse has dogged the finances of local governments across the country.

On Wednesday, Moody's Investors Service put $669 million of Miami's debt on review for possible ratings cuts after federal regulators determined that city officials had misled bond investors about its finances.

(Reporting by Michael Connor in Miami, editing by Kenneth Barry)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/miami-said-declare-financial-urgency-talks-215750098.html

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