Denver's city workers to take second furlough day next month

Denver city employees will have to take a second furlough day off in May after sales tax revenues for February fell by 9.9 percent from the same time period last year.

“We need to keep our budget balanced,” said Sue Cobb, spokeswoman for Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper.

“We want to make sure that our savings are enough. If not, we will make appropriate adjustments,” she said.

In a letter sent to city employees Monday, Hickenlooper declared that  May 22, the Friday that precedes the Memorial Day weekend, is a mandatory furlough day for all city employees.

“Core sales tax revenues for Denver for February 2009 have declined 9.9 percent from February 2008, and are down a combined 10.1 percent for the first two months of 2009,” the mayor wrote.

“This decline is not surprising and is less than that experienced by many cities and states. Still, it is a reduction from 2008 collections.”

The 9.9 percent drop in revenues translates to $2.8 million that the city was not able to collect in February,  Cobb said.

Sales tax receipts account for 50 percent of the city’s revenue and are considered a strong predictor of the city’s economic health.

“We’re in that period of recession where we will see continuing declines throughout the year,” said Cobb.  “We’re seeing a little bit of slowing of that decline, but it’s still a decline.”

The city decided to have mandatory furloughs instead of laying people off to meet budget shortfalls this year.

The furlough order affects 8,600 full-time and part-time Career Service employees, with each furlough day saving the city $1 million.

“It’s one of the top suggestions that city employees offered,” said Cobb.

“These days with the continuing drop in sales tax revenues, we knew that was a possibility. We had furlough days on the radar.”

A total of four possible furlough days have been identified for this year.

On March 27, Denver had it’s first mandatory furlough day after sales tax revenues declined by 8 percent in January, resulting in a shortfall of $2.5 million.

Since Denver had a blizzard on that date, public work crews did not take that day off.

Safety personnel – members of the fire, police and sheriff’s departments – are not affected by the furlough order, since they are under separate agreements  with the city.

An exception also will be made for certain employees next month since the furlough days fall right before a busy traveling holiday.

“The airport is going to continue to operate,” said Cobb.

“They will keep what they need to maintain operations, as well as any emergency services. Those employees that stay on duty that day will take it at another time.”

The other two possible furlough dates are Oct. 23 and Nov. 27.

“Every one of those four possible days are either part of a three-day weekend or fall in a month in which employees receive three paychecks,” she said.

October is a three paycheck month and Nov. 27 is the day after Thanksgiving.

Cobb said the city’s monthly revenues will be monitored to determine if further furloughs will be necessary.

“We’re doing everything we can – hopefully, those efforts are paying off,” she said.

In his letter Monday, Hickenlooper noted that employees have helped address an $86 million shortfall in this year’s budget by a variety of methods, including a limit on merit raises and a temporary suspension of the employee bonus plan.

“As always, we appreciate your sacrifices and your professionalism during these difficult economic times,” he wrote.

The mayor also asked for suggestions from employees on how the city could find further cost savings.

“We could not continue to navigate through our budgetary challenges and avoid layoffs without your support and input,” he wrote.

In the end, Cobb said the furloughs serve two functions: “The whole goal of our entire strategy is to keep people employed and to continue high quality city services to residents,” she said.