Furloughs shared by all county offices

A furlough is a furlough, regardless of whether a county department derives revenue from property taxes or user fees.

That's the word from county officials, who believe that in this time of economic crisis, all must take part in sacrificing part of their income with 10 nonpaid days off this budget year.

County Administrator David Hamilton said there is a loss to the "rhythm of the organization" whenever one person is off for an extended period of time.

For exempt employees, the majority of whom are managers, those days off are taken in two big chunks.

According to the legal office, exempt employees are required to take their 10-day furloughs one week at a time.

Their hourly counterparts are allowed to take them piecemeal throughout the year.

Hamilton said the county has adopted a shared services concept when it comes to organizational strategy, and that includes furloughs.

"Shared burden, shared services and shared responsibilities at all levels," Hamilton said.

Under that concept, he said, it doesn't matter if employees work for a department that receives money from the general fund or from user fees.

"All funds are facing declining revenue streams and this is one of the tools we're using to get costs in line this year," Hamilton said.

"We all get a paycheck that says Hernando County on it," Hamilton said. "We should all be working together in resolving the issues ... we face. All funds, because of the pervasive nature of the economy, are facing less revenue and in the future are projected to face less revenue."

When asked why fee-based department managers are being required to take furloughs, County Commissioner Dave Russell said it had to do partly with "parity," a show of consolidation with the rest of the organization.

Also, any money saved from the salaries of these managers will go into that department's budget coffers and used to offset operating expenses - which helps taxpayers.

For example, the money saved from Tourist Coordinator Sue Rupe's days off would be added to the bed tax revenue she uses to help her department promote tourism, he said.

The same goes with the airport, Russell said. The money saved from the 10 days lopped off Airport Director Don Silvernell's salary when he is on furlough stays at the airport and helps fund operations there, he said.

And if the extra money helps offset future fee increases to taxpayers, such as the utility department, all the better, Russell said.

"It's taxpayer dollars and where there's a savings, it's ultimately a savings to the taxpayers or rate payers," Russell said.

County commissioners in September voted for the furlough plan, which will affect all levels of operations, from rank-and-file employees to management.

About 625 government employees - those represented by the Teamsters union and also non-members - will face 10 nonpaid days off during the next budget year in an effort to trim payroll costs.

Nonsalaried employees started taking their 10 days of furlough starting Oct. 1 and can stagger it through the budget year.

Because of Fair Labor Standards Act regulations, nonunion salaried employees will have to take their days in two separate five-day workweeks.

"We have taken the most conservative interpretation of the Fair Standard Labors Standard Act on furloughs as possible," Assistant attorney Jon Jouben said Friday. "Getting it wrong could expose us to millions of dollars in liability."

Rupe, who plans to take her first five-day furlough the week after Christmas, said she will take the money saved and put it into the advertising and promotion budget for Hernando County.

She said she doesn't object to taking furloughs.

"Even though my budget stays within my fund, I'm still a county department and I still have to follow the policies and procedures of the board of county commissioners," she said.

Commissioner Jeff Stabins said there is no doubt that managers and employees who take off time disrupts taxpayer services, he said.

Although the user-based departments' budgets are not in as bad shape as those propped up by the general fund, they too are facing dire consequences and the savings from their furloughs will help, he said.