NYC mayor, government try different ways to trim workers

New York City and the state both want to cut expenses by trimming public employees but so far they are using different strategies.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg is encouraging agencies to prune workers by giving them credit for saving money on health care and pension benefits, although those costs come out of the city's overall spending plan, Doug Turetsky, a spokesman for the Independent Budget Office, said by telephone on Friday.

In contrast, Governor David Paterson is trying to entice workers to quit in exchange for $20,000 severance payments.

Both the city and state must close multibillion dollar deficits over the next few years as they face fallout from problems on Wall Street.

Paterson, a Democrat, on Thursday extended the state's severance program until January 20 because agencies had only let 1,089 people opt in by the time it ended on November 11.

About 137,000 workers are eligible for the buyouts, but agencies have a compelling reason to find other ways to cut the $500 million the governor has demanded.