North Texas
(2009-07-06)
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Dallas City Hall remained closed for business Monday, an unpaid furlough day for most city workers. KERA's BJ Austin says it's part of the city's struggle to close a 190 million dollar budget gap.
City Hall, municipal courts, libraries, recreation center, and swimming pools are closed today. The city's Frank Librio says it's a money-saving thing.
Librio: Each furlough day for civilian employees will capture about 800 thousand dollars in savings for the city: on top of that, even more money for energy savings.
As dozens of city buildings remain "dark" for an extra day of the long holiday weekend. Some civilian employees ARE at work today; including sanitation workers and those who work in the police and fire dispatch center. Police Lt. Andy Harvey says each of them will take an unpaid furlough day but not all at once.
Harvey: We want to make sure we have enough people to man those work centers, and that's why they're going to have a to stagger their workdays.
Another unpaid furlough day is set for September. At least FOUR furlough days are being considered NEXT budget year. © Copyright 2009, KERA
