50 Methuen Police Officers To Return To Work After Recent Layoffs During Budget Dispute
METHUEN (CBS) -- Fifty Methuen police officers who were recently laid off because of a budget dispute will now have their jobs back. The Mayor's Office confirmed that 80 percent of the money the police department was asking for was granted by the City Council.
The council voted Thursday to restore $1.2 million to the police budget. Last summer, they cut $1.8 million.
The funding dispute led to 50 layoffs, which is about half the police force, at the end of January.
According to the Mayor's Office, although all of the officers will have their jobs back, there will still be service reductions from the police or fire departments because of the $300,000 shortfall.
Inspector General Glenn Cunha said former Mayor Stephen Zanni and the City Council may have violated state and local regulations and breached their duty to taxpayers when they reached union contracts with police officers starting in 2017. The original contract paid some captains more than $400,000 a year.