New Furlough Days Scheduled For Metro Employees

Louisville Mayor Jerry Abramson has scheduled four new furlough days for most Metro Government employees. The furloughs were built into the budget for the current fiscal year. But the Mayor's decision clashes with a Metro Council request.When the council passed the budget last month, it asked Abramson to schedule three of the four furlough days in 2010. That way, if revenues increased this year, then some furlough days could be canceled.Mayor's spokesperson Chris Poynter says the council's request wasn't realistic."We won't know until January when we do mid-year adjustments to determine where the tax receipts are going, but there's no reason to believe things are going to turn around by January," he says.The furlough days are expected to save the city a total of two million dollars and are scheduled for October 2nd, December 24th, February 15th and Oaks Day, April 30th.Poynter says the city will ask the Teamsters and Corrections unions to furlough some their employees for additional savings, but it’s unlikely they will agree.