The City of Palmdale will lay off 11 employees, its city manager has announced. Cuts have also been made to six positions in planning, engineering and building and safety that were already vacant, City Manager Steve Williams said. “This was an extremely tough decision that the City worked diligently to avoid, first by enacting a hiring freeze three months ago and then by stopping or delaying several capital projects for the last half of this fiscal year,” Williams said. “Unfortunately, revenues have continued to decline, with an expected drop of 48 percent in engineering alone for this fiscal year,” he said. The revenues of departments in development are expected to drop to $4.1 million for the 2008-09 fiscal year. Compare this to the 2006-07 fiscal year in which revenues were $11.9 million. For the 2007-08 fiscal year, revenues are expected to be $7 million, according to Williams. The City hopes to save $2.3 million per year as a result of the cuts. Employees who have been laid off will receive severance packages as well as health care premium payments for a period of time and outplacement services through a professional firm. City officials say they do not know whether more lay offs will be made.