Sottile: "... doing everything I can ..."

KINGSTON – The 2010 Kingston City budget included municipal employee layoffs because of the state of fiscal affairs.  Mayor James Sottile has only about five weeks left before he releases his proposed 2011 spending plan, which he said will continue to reflect tough economic times.

“As of this point there are no layoffs in the budget, but until I know what the final number is, we will have a better handle on it, but layoffs are not off the table,” he said. “I am doing everything I can; unfortunately we had a number of layoffs last year and I am doing everything I can to try to avoid that this year.”

Sottile said much of the blame on the city’s financial plight is due to cutbacks in state and federal aid and mandated programs and costs from Albany.