Metro is warning of the potential for layoffs, a hiring freeze and devastating service cuts if progress isn’t made to close a projected $750 million budget gap.
While the budget impacts wouldn’t take effect until July 1, the transit agency said it may have to begin issuing notices this winter to employees about the potential for layoffs and staff reductions for planning purposes.
“I don’t see a scenario right now where the notice doesn’t happen and where the hiring freeze doesn’t happen,” Metro General Manager Randy Clarke told reporters during a briefing Monday.
An ill-timed combination of the coronavirus pandemic, record inflation and a severe decline in ridership have all taken a toll on Metro’s bottom line.
In addition, millions of dollars in federal credits that Metro turned over to local jurisdictions at the height of the pandemic have never been handed back according to the transit agency.
Click here to read the rest of the article written by Adam Tuss over at NBC 4 Washington
