Second Furlough Day Approaches

Louisville Metro Government’s second furlough day is this week. On Friday, all so-called nonessential metro employees will not work or receive pay. This is the second of four furlough days designed to trim nearly $3 million from the city budget.The first furlough was the day after Christmas. Mayor’s spokesperson Chris Poynter, who himself was furloughed, says it went smoothly.“Quite frankly, it was nice. It was nice to have Christmas Day off, the day after Christmas and then a two-day weekend. It was kind of nice to have those days off, at least from my perspective. And I think most folks, they’re willing to give up a little bit of pay, take some furloughs, if it means they can keep their jobs, keep their health care.”Poynter says there were no major problems reported during the one-day shutdown.“I think the only complaint I heard was someone had complained that Metro Call was not running. And that’s true – we shut down Metro Call, the 311 number, for the day as well.”Emergency personnel will not be affected. The final two furloughs are on April 3rd and May 1st.