SPOKANE, Wash. — The City of Spokane said it has issued preliminary layoff notices to 29 employees across multiple departments.
In a press release sent to media late Friday afternoon, the City said the notices are not official terminations, but a notice to affected staff that their positions could be eliminated depending on multiple factors, including the outcome of union negotiations, the proposed Community Safety Sales Tax and the final budget, which is scheduled to be passed by Spokane City Council toward the end of the year.
The City of Spokane said in the press release that they are "committed to supporting affected employees during this period of uncertainty and will continue aggressively pursuing all available options to safeguard jobs while balancing the budget."
“This is a challenging situation and these notices were issued out of an abundance of transparency and fairness to our employees,” Mayor Lisa Brown said. “We are working to minimize impacts to City employees and remain hopeful we can get to a place where we can maintain our workforce and city services while avoiding permanent reductions.”
Last month, the City laid off two employees due to budget constraints. Spokane Police Department spokesperson Julie Humphreys and Neighborhoods and Housing and Human Services and Community and Economic Development spokesperson Brian Walker had their positions eliminated as the city deals with a $50 million budget deficit.