(Reuters) - Miami city officials plan to declare "financial urgency," a move that would allow the government to unilaterally alter employee contracts, the Miami Herald's website said on Thursday.

Quoting Mayor Tomas Regalado, the newspaper said the declaration would be issued by City Manager Johnny Martinez on Thursday and would yield savings needed to balance the city's $485 million annual operating budget.

"The unions are not cooperating with the process," Regalado told the Herald. "We need to have a balanced budget."

Regalado and city officials were not immediately available to comment on the report.

(Reporting by Michael Connor in Miami; Editing by James Dalgleish)