County cancels two furlough days this year

Deputy county managers says furloughs may be needed again next year

By: Steve Welker | Morganton News Herald
Published: March 16, 2010

County government workers won't have to take give up two day's wages by taking unpaid furlough days between now and June.
However, deputy county manager Paul Ijames told county commissioners at their meeting Tuesday night that Burke County may have to order furlough days again in FY 2010-11 to compensate for reduced revenues.
County Manager Ron Lewis hastened to add, "Right now, it's just a guess."
Expecting lower revenue, the county commissioners in 2009 ordered five unpaid furlough days for all employees. Each day saves the county approximately $73,000 in salaries and benefits.
Ijames, who's also the county's finance director, said they spaced out the days to maximize the benefit for taxpayers while minimizing the impact on services. They scheduled one furlough day in each of five months: August, October, February, April and June.
He added, "One of the reasons for establishing specific months ... was the hope that as the fiscal year progressed, there might be the opportunity to eliminate some of the furlough days."
The revenue picture has not improved. Ijames said sales tax revenue is down, property taxes are flat and interest income is virtually zero.
Instead, the county found a little financial relief in its 2008-09 audit.
"The audit shows that the county's general fund lost $751,000 from operations during the fiscal year 2008-09," Ijames wrote in a brief for the commissioners. "While a loss is not necessarily what one wants, the good news is that the loss was not as much as we had anticipated."
Ijames said the county in the current fiscal year also saved money by eliminating 19.5 positions and gained some from "lapse" salaries (money not spent after people leave jobs that aren't filled).
Under those circumstances — and also reminded of the positive effect on employee morale — Commissioner Ruth Ann Suttle moved and the board unanimously approved transferring up to $146,000 from the fund balance into general operations and eliminating the last two furlough days.
First, though, Board Chair Bruce Hawkins quizzed Ijames about the outlook for the 2010-11 budget and whether it, too, will require furlough days.
"We're a little early in the process," Ijames replied, "but yes, in all likelihood, there will be a furlough day or two."
He continued, "The departments understand the realities. The operational budget next year will be pretty much the same as this year..., but the schools' request will be more. And that's a pretty big part of the budget."
The county commissioners hired an consultant to review the school finances and recommend ways to save money and improve efficiency. Ijames said that may help ease the Burke County Public Schools' financial situation.
"It's not going to save it all," he predicted.
Lewis said work on next year's county budget is under way, but it will be awhile before he and Ijames are ready to present a first draft to the county commissioners.
"We'll have a much better picture of the revenue in two months," said Lewis. He also promised that the board will have those revenue numbers in hand before they make final decisions on the budget.
The commissioners plan to approve the budget at their June 15 meeting, which is two weeks before the statutory deadline.