TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Furlough Friday hits Hillsborough County

Staff photo by KATE CALDWELL

This is the first time Hillsborough County government has used unpaid leave to cut costs.

ADVERTISEMENT

By MIKE SALINERO

msalinero@tampatrib.com

Published: October 29, 2009

Updated: 10/30/2009 05:58 am

TAMPA - You may have to change your regular routine today.

Many county facilities - including libraries, the animal shelter, Head Start and senior service centers - are closed today, the first of five unpaid furlough days county commissioners approved to plug a $120 million budget gap.

The entire 28-story Fred B. Karl County Center in downtown Tampa is closed today.

Furlough days have become familiar to thousands of private sector workers as recession-racked companies try to reduce costs while minimizing layoffs. But this is the first time Hillsborough County government has used unpaid leave to cut costs.

Staying open will be satellite offices for the county tax collector, property appraiser and the clerk of circuit court. To see the locations of the offices, go to www.hillsborough county.org and click on the panel that says "government" at the top of the page.

Emergency services, trash collection and water treatment also will operate as usual.

The closings will be a mild annoyance to most people, but others will lose a valuable day of access to needed government services. For instance, many people without an Internet connection at home use public libraries to look for jobs, post resumes or apply for government services.

"The libraries are so critical to the needs of so many people, not only students," said Jackie Zebos, manager of administrative and reference services for the county library system. "I think there will be some people who will be disappointed."

A sign of the times

Senior centers, where older residents can get a hot meal and enjoy recreation with friends, will be missed.

"They have a good time when they come, but it's a sign of the times we live in," said Bart Banks, director of the Aging Services Department. "We're trying to make do with the resources we have available. We're just glad we're not closing permanently."

The county expects to save about $700,000 in personnel costs today. Four more furlough days are scheduled for next year: Jan. 15, April 2, June 18 and Sept. 9. All the closings fall on Fridays except Sept. 9, a Thursday.

This past spring, County Administrator Pat Bean presented a budget with cuts totaling $144 million. County revenue had been decimated by falling property values and property tax cuts approved by voters and the Legislature.

County job losses

Bean had feared that as many as 1,000 county employees would lose their jobs. The final number was about 560.

"Pat heard fairly early on in this budget process that employees wanted the opportunity to save jobs," said Eric Johnson, the county's budget director. "So the acceptability of furloughs really came from employees."

County commissioners restored about $20 million in funding during the summer, but deep cuts in services could not be avoided.

For instance, Hillsborough County Animal Services, which are closed today, had to cut $850,000 and 15 employees. And starting Oct. 1, the agency began closing its Falkenburg Road shelter and animal adoption center on Mondays.

Animal Services director Bill Armstrong said closing the office two days a week hurts the agency's efforts to encourage adoptions and reduce stray animals. So Armstrong extended the office's hours from 6 to 7 p.m. Tuesday through Friday.

"Being open until 7, we were hoping it will draw people in for adoptions," he said.

In an ironic twist, the furlough that is lightening county employee paychecks could save an animal's life. Armstrong said the shelter will extend by one day the time for an owner of a lost dog to reclaim it before the animal is euthanized.

Reporter Mike Salinero can be reached at (813) 259-8303.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT