Next month’s tentative furlough day for city staff has been lifted in light of recent sales tax income, said the mayor’s chief of staff Don Marr at Tuesday afternoon’s agenda session.
In April, Mayor Lioneld Jordan set aside October 11 as one of three days that potentially could be used for unpaid leave if the sales tax income continued to drop.
“We did show positive this month compared to last year,” said Paul Becker, the city’s finance director before being cut off.
“Now I want you to repeat that,” interrupted the mayor.
Becker did repeat himself and added that while the increase was minimal – .07% or about $3,000 – city initiatives which are in place to address the budget deficit are still on track to hold for the remainder of the year.
Frozen wages and hirings, reductions in overtime, and the elimination of planning commissioner salaries are all part of the plan put together by the mayor and city staff.
“If we forecast based on what we’re down so far at this point in time, that would put $830,000 at the end of the year,” said Becker. “The plan was developed for us to save $950,000 so we’re on track as far as the plan is concerned.”
The original July 2 furlough day was cancelled in late April for similar reasons and so far, none of the three potential furlough days have been used. The only remaining tentative date for unpaid leave is November 12.
