On a day when city Controller Wendy Greuel asked the City Council not to plunder L.A.'s reserves to deal with a projected $199 million deficit through June, city officials on Tuesday confirmed that 1,000 employees will be laid-off and more would likely be furloughed.

City Councilman Eric Garcetti said the city could face bankruptcy unless it moved forward with such belt-tightening measures. Greuel asked in a letter to the council and the mayor that the body not tap its $189 million reserve fund, which she said was already below prudent levels and would be totally wiped out as the city faces a tough new fiscal year in June.

” … Any budget balancing action must take effect immediately in order to reduce or eliminate the shortfall for this fiscal year — prior to June 30, 2010″ Greuel wrote (emphasis her's). But she warned that “to deplete the majority of the Reserve Fund this year would leave the city with no margin for error and a total inability to respond to further revenue shortfalls.”

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