CINCINNATI --
Firefighters are breathing a sigh of relief with the announcement that none in their ranks will be laid off this year, but some changes are in store.
Union officials met Friday with department administrators to discuss budget cuts mandated by Cincinnati city officials, who will release updated deficit figures at the start of next week.
However, officials with the city's unions said figures discussed so far don't match up.
Kathy Harrell, president of the police officers' union, said a $600,000 difference in department concessions exists depending on which meeting she attends.
Officials from the middle managers' union said they had been ordered to cut $1 million from the budget or lose 94 positions. Union president Diana Frey said she has two-dozen unfilled managers positions now, but doesn't know if that 94 number includes those positions or not.
"I can't come back to (members) with Latin if I don't understand it. And that's all we're getting right now. We're not getting any clear picture," Frey said.
Although no jobs will be eliminated, four fire companies will be temporarily closed between September and January, said union president Marc Monahan.
"It's not a good thing, but we understand the whole budget is not a good thing," he said.
Firefighters from those four targeted companies, which have not yet been identified, will rotate into other companies to eliminate overtime.
Union officials said the move would allow them to balance the budget without job cuts, although they said the closures would likely affect response times.
"Anytime you take four companies out of the mix, which is 10 percent of our total fire response capability, there'll be negative impact on response time," Monahan said.
For Clifton resident Jaylynn Gray, response time has been important in the past.
"The apartment complex where I live did catch fire, in fact, in my building. But, you know, they were there within seconds. So, it is a concern of mine," she said.
Meanwhile, city and union leaders are bracing for 2010, where projections of the expected budget deficit are already at $40 million and could climb further.
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