Thousands of city employees will be required to take unpaid time off after Dallas leaders announced furloughs as part of an effort to address a $30 million budget shortfall. City Manager Kim Tolbert said the decision was not the preferred solution but was necessary to reduce expenses. Under th e plan, most nonuniform city employees will be required to take three predetermined furlough days, including one day in July and two days in September. The move is expected to save the city millions of dollars. Chris Bowers, a former assistant city attorney for the City of Dallas, said furloughs can have lasting effects on employees. “I experienced it. In 2008 and 2009, the city had several furlough days,” Bowers said. While three days may seem minor to some, Bowers said the impact can be significant. “It meant that your paychecks were smaller than you might’ve expected. It meant the days that you were eligible to retire would be pushed off a few more days in the future,” he said. The announcement quickly drew reactions from members of the Dallas City Council. Councilwoman Cara Mendelsohn released a statement criticizing the use of furloughs as a short-term solution. “Instead of looking at short-term solutions like a furlough, I’d like to see departments that have grown tremendously over the last several years, like HR, Data Analytics, City Attorney’s Office, Mayor City Council Office, return to the staffing levels of 2017,” Mendelsohn said in part. “There are other departments that are outside the scope of the city, like Community Empowerment, that should really be a county function, and some that are administering ineffective programs that need to be sunset.” Mendelsohn also called for reducing the number of boards and commissions, scaling back the civilian pension cost-of-living adjustment, and requiring a full return to the office for city employees. Councilman Adam Bazaldua also criticized the decision and the way it was communicated to council members. “This news is incredibly frustrating, as no matter the budget issues encountered, cutting workers’ pay should be the last resort we default to,” Bazaldua said in part. “It’s incredibly disappointing to find out this information via correspondence intended for the media, instead of a one-to-one conversations, so that council feedback could be factored into this decision. Oftentimes, council conversations are the only way the resident’s perspective gets factored into executive decisions – this is not a detail we should gloss over,” he added. Bowers said the city manager has broad authority over city employees and the ability to implement furloughs. “The city manager is in control of the vast majority of city employees. They report directly or indirectly to her,” Bowers said. “It’s her prerogative to institute furloughs. It’s probably advisable that she let the elected officials that she reports to know about her decision-making,” he said. Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson also released a statement, saying he has pushed for spending reductions and believes the effort has become increasingly urgent. Johnson said the city should examine every part of municipal government for opportunities to reduce spending. “At a time when rising costs continue to strain family budgets across this city, we simply cannot raise taxes in lieu of addressing much deeper and more structural fiscal challenges. These challenges are rooted in the City’s relaxed approach to spending and the longstanding resistance around the horseshoe to making meaningful spending reductions,” Johnson said in part. The furloughs are expected to affect most nonuniform city employees as Dallas works to close its budget gap. ...read more read less