Bad news flew March 2 when Delphi Packard announced 200 salaried job terminations at its Warren area-based Ohio Operations due to sagging auto sales.
Warren Mayor Michael J. O'Brien said he received a fax from Delphi corporate headquarters Monday morning announcing the cuts.
He said although the North River Road plant is located in Howland, the city will lose approximately $30,000 in income tax revenue from the workers who live in Warren. O'Brien said the announcement will have an indirect impact on the local economy because the employees affected are higher-paid salary workers who contributed to the sales tax base.
"If someone could tell me there would be an end to all these layoffs, we could plan accordingly. But it seems as though more bad news comes every week and even every day," O'Brien said.
He said the city used to review its annual budget on a quarterly basis and then started doing monthly reviews last year. He said the reviews now are being done daily as the economy continues to decline.
"The city has to react to changes in the financial climate in the private sector, and the auditor will adjust the budget accordingly," O'Brien said.
State Rep. Thomas Letson, D-Warren, said it seems as though the larger employers are shutting down more frequently than the smaller ones, which has a larger impact on the economy.
"200 jobs lost means 200 families devastated," Letson said.
He said Monday's announcement on top of last week's ruling that allowed Delphi Corp. to cut health care benefits for 15,000 retirees will have a huge impact on the local economy.
Howland Township Administrator Darlene St. George said the news saddened her because it's always hard to hear when someone loses their job.
"These are people that work in Trumbull County, pay taxes here and pay for services," she said.
St. George said that although the township does not collect income taxes, it relies on property taxes, and there is $1.6 million in delinquent property taxes in Howland. She said $443,000 of that amount is owed from the Delphi plant since it entered bankruptcy.
St. George said all department heads have trimmed 5 percent from their 2009 budgets.
Diane Sauer of her namesake Chevrolet dealership in downtown Warren, said she ''certainly feels for those losing their position. It's another piece of bad news. We're pretty resilient, but hopefully we reach a bottom pretty soon.''
Joe Bell, spokesman for commercial real estate developer The Cafaro Co., said it was ''tragic when you think about all the families affected. It's bad news for them and their neighbors and everyone who participates in our economy.''
He searched for a ray of hope by saying, ''We do know these (business) cycles come every so often, and we just have to weather them.''