Chester Passes Amended Plan for Financial Recovery

Following a heated public debate earlier in the month, Chester City Council has passed a new plan to try to reverse its financial decline, writes Laura Benshoff for NewsWorks.

The plan is a roadmap that gives the city a number of options to increase revenues and reduce operating costs that have not been balanced for more than two decades.

During a special session, the council adopted an amended version of a plan proposed by Econsult Solutions, a consulting firm backed by the state, with only a small audience looking on.

This quiet passage was the complete opposite of the initial public hearing on the recovery plan when representatives from Econsult received strong criticism.

City officials have changed several items in the new plan, but the goal of reducing the police department by around 10 officers stays, according to Mayor Thaddeus Kirkland.

“It’s not us laying them off, it’s them simply retiring from the position that they’ve held for so long,” said Kirkland. “We have a number of police officers that are at that point in their career.”

Read more about the new financial plan at NewsWorks by clicking here.