Rohnert Park soon to begin furlough Fridays
Published: Monday, March 15, 2010 at 6:08 p.m.
Last Modified: Monday, March 15, 2010 at 6:08 p.m.
Rohnert Park tried flexible furloughs, allowing employees to choose the days they would take off. But employees were having trouble staying away.
“With us having downsized our staff, and the pressure to get work done, employees are really struggling to meet the workloads and meet the furlough time,” said Dan Schwarz, the interim city manager.
So the city will shift to standard furlough Fridays, joining its cash-strapped cousins around the county and state who are closing down each or every other Friday to cope with steep budget deficits.
The decision on how many Friday's to close will come before the end of the month.
As part of the change, though, the city will alter its practice of closing during lunch hours, meaning city offices will stay open to residents from noon to 1 p.m. Monday through Thursday.
“We have bankers' hours now — 8 to noon, and then 1 to 5 — and nobody operates on bankers' hours anymore,” said Vice Mayor Gina Belforte, who proposed the lunch hour change.
“The least we could do is make up the time somewhere else to serve the residents,” she said.
The new schedule should take effect this month. The furloughs affect 40 to 50 non-sworn employees, and about 70 public safety officers.
The flexible arrangement was instituted in October as the city tried to close a deficit of $4.4 million. It will last through the 2010-2011 fiscal year.
It amounts to a pay cut equaling 3.85 percent a year for general employees and 5.7 percent a year for public safety officers.
Rohnert Park, struggling with a deficit that's projected to balloon to $6 million next year unless more cuts are made, is asking voters to approve a half-cent sales tax that will be on the ballot in June.
The City Council last week, through a variety of cuts that included layoffs and frozen positions, cut about $400,000 from this year's budget, which has about four months to go. Those cuts will translate into about $1 million in cuts next year.
The cuts have included closing three of the city's five swimming pools, and changing the city's cultural landmark, the Spreckels Performing Arts Center, to a rental only facility.
If the sales tax passes, it would bring in $2.4 million to $2.8 million in annual revenue. But that would still leave a $2.5 million hole in the budget, city officials said.
The slumping economy has slashed at the city's sales and property tax revenues; they are now about $2 million lower than at their peak, Lipitz said.
For months the council, even while making cuts, has looked for more ways to pare back.
Schwarz told the council last week that the city is at the point where cutting more staff and freezing empty positions is on the table.
We are at the point now where we have to make some decisions,” he said Monday. “I think we've studied all there is to study.”
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