About 200 city jobs axed

The numbers are in.

Ninety-three Colorado Springs city employees have received pink slips and an additional 88 employees are leaving city government under an early retirement program.

The reduction in workforce, part of an effort to cut costs next year, will likely create huge gaps in government services, especially in parks maintenance and engineering.

“The last day of work for civilian employees taking voluntary retirement will be December 25, 2009, and for sworn employees the final day of work will be December 28, 2009,” city spokeswoman Sue Skiffington-Blumberg said today in an e-mail.

Most of the employees who were laid off will leave city government Dec. 31.

But “a few are scheduled for lay off March 31, 2010, pending the outcome of the City Council’s fundraising efforts and business plan partnerships for Parks, Recreation and select Cultural Services programs and facilities,” Skiffington-Blumberg said.

The latest numbers tell only part of the story.

“These numbers do not include vacant positions that have been permanently eliminated in police, fire, streets and other municipal functions,” Skiffington-Blumberg said. “In the last 18 months, the city eliminated over 400 positions.”

The council will take a final vote on the 2010 budget during a special meeting that starts at 1 p.m. Monday. The meeting is on the third floor of City Hall, 107 N. Nevada Ave.