Mayor Paul Winfield took two opportunities Monday to reassure city employees and the general public that he does not anticipate any layoffs or furloughs in an employee restructuring process announced last week and defended pay raises for himself, the two aldermen and half of the city’s 550 employees, which become effective Friday.

“Our administration is poised to place our employees first,” Winfield said on the steps of City Hall Monday afternoon at a press conference announced 20 minutes before it was scheduled to begin.

“They’re one of our best resources,” he said. “We met with our department heads and talked about a number of different concerns in order to apply sound financial and business practices within the city.”

Winfield said he wanted to dispel “misconceptions” about the 3 percent across-the-board pay raises for an estimated 270 non-civil city employees and the 5 percent pay raises for the three elected city officials, allowed through a 2002 city ordinance during the second and third years of their four-year terms.

“My office has not received one complaint about the raises we’ve given to our employees, but I have heard things in the streets and I have read things, and that was one of the reasons why I needed to lay to rest some of the misconceptions,” he said.

This was the first across-the-board raise for city employees other than those in the police and fire departments, since 2001, but merit-based raises have been given.

The police and fire departments received a 2.5 percent cost-of-living raise in 2008, and their performance-based raises are managed by the Civil Service Commission.

Winfield also addressed the issue earlier in the day at the city board meeting.

He said funds for the raises, which will cost the city about $312,302.18, were allocated in the city’s $31.3 million budget this fiscal year, which began Oct. 1.

City department heads were asked to tighten belts and find such cost-cutting techniques as equipment sharing and limiting travel expenses, Winfield said.

He said the carryover from last fiscal year was $500,000, about a fourth of the $1.9 million reported by the city accounting office last week.

“After meeting with our accountant, and looking at some of his figures, we found our numbers to be reduced to half a million dollars out of the $31.5 million budget that we set for 2010,” he said. “I’m proud of that, but I’m not complacent.”

He attributed the lower number to draws for grant-matching and bill-paying.

Winfield also addressed the decrease in city income, mainly from sales tax and gaming revenues.

He said monthly sales tax revenues for the city are down from $623,000 in 2006 to $602,000 this year, and gaming revenue was also down from $6.9 million in 2009 to $6.6 million in 2010.

“Our gaming revenues have not necessarily fared as well, but we have made adjustments for the decreases,” he said.

Efficiency by streamlining city operations was also key in Winfield’s address.

“I continue to push for efficiency,” he said. “Now efficiency does not necessarily equate to layoffs or furloughs. I want our employees to know I don’t anticipate furloughs or layoffs. If we continue to tighten our belt buckle and make sure we hold on to sound business practices, we’re going to be able to improve our operations.”

He announced last week an employee restructuring process that could merge some of the city’s 36 departments, resulting in fewer people reporting to the Board of Mayor and Aldermen.

He has declined to say when the process will begin or how much it will save the city.

About a dozen city employees standing behind the mayor in front of City Hall Monday said nothing during or after the press conference.