Bloomberg declares hiring freeze, possible job cuts

City Hall is taking down the "help wanted" sign again.

For the second time in just over a year, Mayor Michael Bloomberg Tuesday announced a hiring freeze and other belt-tightening measures, including possible job cuts, to fight persistent budget gaps.

In a letter to all city agencies Tuesday, Bloomberg said they had to come up with combined savings of $800 million in the current fiscal year in the face of a continuing drop in tax revenues. The trims will have to amount to $1.2 billion in fiscal year 2012.

"Our economically sensitive tax revenues in FY 2011 remain more than $4 billion below the peak levels reached before the recession began," said Bloomberg in his letter. "Meanwhile, the costs of the services the city provides - particularly pension costs - continue to rise."

In talks with reporters later in the day, Bloomberg said that he had no plans to increase property taxes, a move he said would hurt economic recovery.

Bloomberg last ordered a job freeze for a few months in July 2009 in the face of a budget impasse in Albany. He set Oct. 8 as the deadline for the agencies to come up with ideas for current trims. Once plans are completed, the hiring freeze will be reviewed for each agency, Bloomberg said.

The freeze does not affect positions "immediately impacting public health and safety," the mayor said.

However, all agencies, including police and fire, as well as the district attorney offices, must come up with cuts either in jobs or other spending, Bloomberg said. Uniformed services, prosecutors and the Department of Education are being asked to trim 2.7 percent of their spending in FY 2011, which began on July 1. All other agencies must cut by 5.4 percent. The FY 2012 trims will increase to 4 percent for law enforcement and education and 8 percent for other departments.

Spokesmen for the NYPD and FDNY said the agencies just received Bloomberg's letter and were assessing what needed to be done. Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hynes said the new cuts come on top of a painful slicing of $4 million done earlier from his current budget.

"Frankly, I don't know how we are going to come up with the cuts and perform the functions we are supposed to," Hynes told Newsday.