Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle promised the budget cuts would hurt. Well, let the pain begin.
Preckwinkle issued layoff notices Monday to around 100 county employees, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.
The layoffs are the first of more than 1,000 Preckwinkle plans to make in an attempt to close a $315 million budget shortfall.
The layoffs will spread amongst a variety of departments.
Preckwinkle presented her proposed budget one week ago, and is still negotiating with the unions to seek alternatives.
Last week, Preckwinkle said the cuts were inevitable because 80 percent of the county's $2.9 billion budget goes toward payroll.
Preckwinkle plans to completely eliminate the sales tax increase by the end of 2012, with a quarter of a percent reduction planned in the current proposed budget.
