The Department of Defense said it would have to cut $154.9 million from its civilian payroll in Pennsylvania — including Letterkenny Army Depot — if automatic spending cuts take effect next month.
The military faces $500 billion in budget cuts over 10 years from sequestration. Congress loaded up the automatic cuts for March 1 when it failed to make measured cuts in the nation’s budget.
The (Scranton) Times-Tribune reported that the economic impact of the cuts on Tobyhanna Army Depot could be more than $300 million, slashing its budget by more than one-third this year.
The paper said the commonwealth’s other Army depot, Letterkenny in Chambersburg, Pa., would absorb spending reductions of more than $449 million.
Letterkenny is Franklin County’s largest employer, with a work force of about 4,000.
Letterkenny repairs Patriot missile systems, aviation generators, vehicles and other items for the military.
Last August, county leaders said the potential cuts would be devastating to the local economy.
The department said the civilian payroll in Pennsylvania totaled $1.83 billion in the current fiscal year. The estimated 2013 fiscal year payroll was $1.67 billion.
Defense Secretary Leon Panetta told Congress on Wednesday that the cuts could force him to shorten the workweek for the “vast majority” of the Defense Department’s 800,000 civilian workers.
