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Tom Scarnecchia, the mayor of Niles, Ohio will be giving up $34,000 a year to help reduce his city’s deficit.
The city is in a fiscal emergency with a projected $130,000 year-end deficit, and the state requires that the budget be balanced. Four of the seven Niles City Council members met last Friday to hear how the mayor and staff planned to alleviate the deficit.
Ten minutes into the meeting, Scarnecchia made his announcement: “From now until probably January 1st, I am going to take a 50 percent pay cut in my wage.”
With that cut, he will be losing $34,000 a year.
The rest of the city council is also stepping up. Some are taking a cut in pay, while others are combining jobs and taking on larger workloads.
“I think that him making that personal sacrifice should show the citizens that he’s doing the very best he can. He loves Niles,” Councilman Barry Steffey told WKBN.
(WATCH the video below from WKBN)