Montgomery County Council members have floated the possibility of temporary layoffs for county employees as they struggle to close a $297 million budget gap and adhere to raises promised in contracts with county workers.
Council President Mike Knapp and Gino Renne, president of Montgomery County’s main government employee union, confirmed that the idea of furloughs, in which county employees are essentially instructed to take temporary leaves from work without pay, have been discussed, but neither would say how likely they are to happen.
“It’s been discussed, it’s out there, but until we are officially ordered back to the bargaining table, that is not something I am going to comment on,” Renne said. “My members are facing the same financial pressures that everybody else is these days.”
Knapp said furloughs were one of many options being considered by council members. “Yes, some people are talking about furloughs, but people are also talking about giving 2 percent less [cost-of-living adjustments] promised in contracts,” Knapp said. “I’m still not sure we need to go to our employees for a contribution, but in the remaining few days all options are on the table.”
Renne said union members still feel resentment toward county leaders from 2003 budget actions in which members agreed to delay cost-of-living adjustments for three months, giving the county roughly $20 million, only to have the county discover “$30 or $40 million in unanticipated revenue” after the budget was signed.
“That wound is still verymuch raw,” Renne said.
Council member Duchy Trachtenberg, who chairs the council’s Management and Fiscal Policy Committee, proposed Thursday that most county employees take a 2 percent reduction in their cost-of-living adjustments, but said she did not favor the idea of furloughs.
“I think a shutdown of local government is not the kind of thing to do for long-term planning,” Trachtenberg said. “It is an emergency measure that speaks to desperation. It should be in your back pocket, but I am not thrilled with the idea of it as a budget tool.”
County finance officials said earlier in the week that Montgomery County used furloughs to deal with a budget problem in the early ’90s, but wound up eventually repaying workers’ salaries for the time they were told not to come to work.
[email protected] Montgomery County Council members have floated the possibility of temporary layoffs for county employees as they struggle to close a $297 million budget gap and adhere to raises promised in contracts with county workers.
Council President Mike Knapp and Gino Renne, president of Montgomery County’s main government employee union, confirmed that the idea of furloughs, in which county employees are essentially instructed to take temporary leaves from work without pay, have been discussed, but neither would say how likely they are to happen.
“It’s been discussed, it’s out there, but until we are officially ordered back to the bargaining table, that is not something I am going to comment on,” Renne said. “My members are facing the same financial pressures thateverybody else is these days.”
Knapp said furloughs were one of many options being considered by council members. “Yes, some people are talking about furloughs, but people are also talking about giving 2 percent less [cost-of-living adjustments] promised in contracts,” Knapp said. “I’m still not sure we need to go to our employees for a contribution, but in the remaining few days all options are on the table.”
Renne said union members still feel resentment toward county leaders from 2003 budget actions in which members agreed to delay cost-of-living adjustments for three months, giving the county roughly $20 million, only to have the county discover “$30 or $40 million in unanticipated revenue” after the budget was signed.
“That wound is still very much raw,” Renne said.
Council member Duchy Trachtenberg, who chairs the council’s Management and Fiscal Policy Committee, proposed Thursday that most county employees take a 2 percent reduction in their cost-of-living adjustments, but said she did not favor the idea of furloughs.
“I think a shutdown of local government is not the kind of thing to do for long-term planning,” Trachtenberg said. “It is an emergency measure that speaks to desperation. It should be in your back pocket, but I am not thrilled with the idea of it as a budget tool.”
County finance officials said earlier in the week that Montgomery County used furloughs to deal with a budget problem in the early ’90s, but wound up eventually repaying workers’ salaries for the time they were told not to come to work.
