Mayor Jerry Sanders proposed city budget for 2010 would hike the costs of some city services and slash city workers' pay and benefits.
Also on tap: Fines for overdue library books will increase, and Little League teams will pay more to play on city-owned ball fields.
City workers would see their pay and benefits slashed by 6percent, regardless of how much they make, and their controversial retirement benefits would also be cut.
Sanders said the hours of operation will not be cut as library and park and recreation sites, and he pledged that public safety would not be effected.
Officials from the labor union that represents the city's 1,900 blue collar workers said that it's not fair to cut those workers' salaries by the same percentage that higher-paid white collar workers would be reduced. Union executive Joan Raymond said, however, that AFSCME Local 127 is not threatening to strike.
"I think it's premature to talk about strikes," Raymond said. "People want their jobs right now, and that's what we are trying to do. It's our No. 1 goal."
