ATTLEBORO - A hearing will be held today for the staff of the Attleboro Redevelopment Authority, which is scheduled to be laid off in one week.

The jobs of the four staff members, including Executive Director Michael Milanoski, were abolished last month by a revamped ARA board in the face of mounting debt at the beleaguered agency.

Jan Silverman, the city's personnel consultant, will preside at the hearing, which is required by state civil service law.

None of the ARA staff members have requested an open hearing, so it will be closed, ARA Chairwoman Judith Robbins said.

A report on the hearing is expected by the ARA's meeting next week. And, barring unforeseen developments, the workers are expected to be formally dismissed from their jobs next Friday, Robbins said.

While the move is intended to save money for the ARA, which is struggling with a $3 million to $4 million debt, the board will still have to shell out cash for unemployment compensation payments.

Like the city, the ARA doesn't pay unemployment insurance and is required to repay the state for payments it makes to workers when they are let go through no fault of their own, Robbins said.

She said the ARA can fund the unemployment compensation for a "goodly number of weeks," but will have to watch the cash situation "very carefully."

City workers are expected to take over ARA staff jobs for the immediate future, however Mayor Kevin Dumas said the city eventually will have to hire and fund the jobs with grant money.

Dumas has pushed for changes at the ARA for more than a year in the wake of increasing financial problems with projects it ran for the city.

Board resignations allowed Dumas to install members backing his position.

He claimed Milanoski mismanaged the projects.

Former ARA board members sided with Milanoski and pointed fingers at the mayor, claiming a lack of city funding exacerbated the problems, which they said came about for a variety of reasons beyond Milanoski's control.