By Allen Howard
The Cincinnati Enquirer

ST. BERNARD - Officials of this small city said Wednesday they would have to wait and see how the 180 job reductions at Procter & Gamble's Ivorydale plant will affect the city's finances.

They know it will hurt, but nobody knows how much because the reductions in jobs will not be complete until next year.

By that time, the new Procter & Gamble's $67 million, state-of-the-art Fabric & Home Care Innovation Center will be opened. The 300,000-square-foot building is to house 465 employees.

"It looks as if we will be hit momentarily, but with the new plant and more employees coming in, it shouldn't hurt us,'' said St. Bernard Auditor Walt Sinclair.

St. Bernard Mayor Barbara Siegel was at a meeting in Colorado and could not be reached for comment, but she has been keeping close watch on the company since P&G closed its Tide laundry detergent operation at Ivorydale in 1999, displacing 238 workers.

Marjorie Niesen, St. Bernard's tax commissioner, said it's difficult for the city to figure just how much P&G adds to the city budget.

"They are kind of spread out all over, and we just have never been able to figure exactly how much they add to the budget,'' she said. "We know it is going to hurt us, but how much, we don't know. As of now, I do not have enough information."

St. Bernard-Elmwood Place school officials were uncertain, too.

"We are like the city. We know it is going to hurt, but how much, we will not be able to say until at least April when the reductions are complete,'' said Treasurer Michael Mays.

E-mail ahoward@enquirer.com