A Relic of the Recession: Fewer Local Government Workers. Queen Creek shares how they’re prospering
Analysis shows the agencies and states that have suffered the largest payroll cuts.
by Mike
For years, Queen Creek, Ariz., was booming with a steady influx of families moving to the community outside Phoenix. That all came to a halt in 2006 when town officials started noticing a dramatic drop-off in housing construction.
The eventual nationwide housing market collapse resulted in round after round of mid-year budget reductions, followed by years of cuts to the city’s workforce. The town consolidated or eliminated multiple departments. An entire police beat was cut. And the public employees who were left saw their hours or pay reduced as revenues continued to decline.
“For Queen Creek, the recession was six very-long years,” said John Kross, the town manager.
While few local governments across the country felt the recession’s effects quite to the level that Queen Creek did, most were forced to make some form of payroll reductions. Going on nearly a decade since the start of the recession, localities in many parts of the country have since restored public payrolls to prior levels. But some still employ far fewer workers than they did before the downturn.
