Citiesandtheirdeficits城市及其赤字.doc

Cities and their deficits城市及其赤字 Staring into the abyss滑入深渊May 28th 2009 | CHICAGO AND PITTSBURGHFrom The Economist print edition Lay off 4,000 workers, or let the mayor cut the grass?解雇4,000名工人，或者让市长除草？ Getty Images CHICAGO’S skyline may be glorious (see above), but the city’s big shoulders are slumped. In November the city passed a budget to close a $469m shortfall. But in the first four months of 2009 a gap opened again, of $96m. By the end of the year, the city expects it to be about $300m. 芝加哥的外表依旧辉煌（见上图），但是这座城市的大梁却已坍塌。去年11月，芝加哥通过一项预算方案，旨在弥补4.69亿美元的预算缺口。但是截止09年前四个月，整个城市又面临9600万美元的差额，预计到今年年底总额将达到3亿美元。 A recent report by the Philadelphia Research Initiative, an arm of the Pew Charitable Trust, looks at how 13 cities are dealing with budget problems. All but one have deficits, thanks to the fall in property taxes, the dramatic drop in consumer spending, high unemployment and the subsequent decrease in income tax revenues. Budgeting, usually a headache endured annually, has become a chronic migraine for many city governments. Even pessimistic revenue projections have had to be revised. 在最近的一份报告中，Philadelphia Research Initiative（隶属于Pew Charitable Trust）探讨了13个城市各自如何应对所面临的预算问题。由于财产税下滑、消费开支紧缩、失业率攀升以及相伴随的所得税收入减少，13个城市中有12个出现赤字。原来一年一次让人头疼的预算问题，现在已成为许多市政府的慢性顽疾。甚至原本已悲观的收入预期都不得不一再下调。 Most cities are cutting services. Hiring freezes are the norm. Employee-related costs—payroll, pensions and health benefits—make up the largest part of any city budget, generally 60-75% (and more than 80% of Chicago’s). Richard Daley, Chicago’s mayor, recently proposed that the city’s 3,600 non-unionised workers should take 16 days of unpaid holiday by December 31st. New York City is preparing to cut 3,800 municipal jobs. Atlanta, meanwhile, is imposing a 36-hour work week for almost all its city workers, including the police. This has saved “the Big Peach” $11.5m. 多数城市在削减公共服务。冻结招聘也很普遍。在所有城市预算中，雇员成本（工资、退休金和医疗保险）占据最大部分，通常为60-75%（芝加哥超过80%）。芝加哥市长Richard Daley最近就提议该市的3,600名非工会工人应在12月31日前安排16天的无