Published: Sunday, July 11, 2010
Furloughs tough on stretched family budgets
Three-day weekends are always welcome, especially in summer. When extra time comes with a “mandatory furlough” label, it puts a damper on day-off fun.
About 35,000 state employees — roughly a third of Washington’s workers — will be off without pay Monday. It’s the first of 10 state furlough days scheduled for the coming year. Expected to save $70 million, the unpaid days were approved by lawmakers facing a $2.8 billion hole in the state budget.
Before you start coveting some public workers’ furlough days, think about the holes they leave in personal budgets. Some people can afford slimmer paychecks, some can’t.
Kimberly Cole, a legislative aide for Snohomish County Council member Mike Cooper, learned to live with less last year when she was required to take 10 furlough days. Cole, who’s also a Lynnwood City Council member, is a single mother with a 6-year-old son.
Two full weeks without pay meant real sacrifice, Cole said Friday.
“I ended up dropping a couple extracurricular activities for my son, and tightened up the grocery budget. I was budgeting down to the last penny,” said Cole, who in 2007 became a Lynnwood homeowner.
This year, she only has to take five furlough days. Cole knows she’s luckier than some workers. She is able to choose which days to take off, as long as her choices work with Cooper’s schedule. “For me, it was very convenient,” she said.
From management’s viewpoint, furlough days can play havoc with workloads and require scheduling adjustments.
Snohomish County Auditor Carolyn Weikel said Friday that her office took six set furlough days last year. This year, only a few workers in the Auditor’s Office will take any.
“Our work is cyclical,” said Weikel. “We got scrunched with a heavy workload and got behind, but in our normal cycle we were able to catch up. We did a lot of cross-training.”
While some workers will choose their unpaid days this year, Weikel sees benefits in shutting down an office on set days, as the state will do in many places Monday.
“You see more savings if you’re able to shut down buildings, or at least partial buildings,” Weikel said. As an elected official, she said she takes no furlough days.
Weikel heard a TV news report about Monday’s furloughs and said it incorrectly included car tabs among services that won’t be available. “We’re open,” she said, adding that vehicle tabs will also be sold through sub-agents.
Kathryn Fugere, the county’s deputy clerk, is a former president of the Snohomish County Clerk’s Association. Last year, she negotiated the agreement that required clerks to take 10 furlough days. “It was pretty close to a 5 percent pay cut,” Fugere said. As part of the furlough agreement, the clerks get extra vacation time this year.
Fugere said a few workers took last year’s days all at once, as two weeks off. “Most people took about one a month,” she said. “I do recall co-workers being able to take long weekends.”
She definitely felt the financial pinch. “We get paid every other week, and just one furlough day had a real impact. I had to make sure my bills were covered for that part of the month, and I didn’t go on any big shopping sprees.”
A few workers ran into snags while trying to buy homes, Fugere said. “You have your stated income, then your furlough income,” she said. “I wrote a letter on their behalf stating the terms, that they were only for a year.”
While she has concerns about underemploying a whole work force, Cole said there are sound reasons for furloughs. “If the economy turns around, you still have people. They’re trained.
“I think folks are really glad not to lose their jobs,” she said.
Julie Muhlstein: 425-339-3460, muhlstein@heraldnet.com.
About 35,000 state employees — roughly a third of Washington’s workers — will be off without pay Monday. It’s the first of 10 state furlough days scheduled for the coming year. Expected to save $70 million, the unpaid days were approved by lawmakers facing a $2.8 billion hole in the state budget.
Before you start coveting some public workers’ furlough days, think about the holes they leave in personal budgets. Some people can afford slimmer paychecks, some can’t.
Kimberly Cole, a legislative aide for Snohomish County Council member Mike Cooper, learned to live with less last year when she was required to take 10 furlough days. Cole, who’s also a Lynnwood City Council member, is a single mother with a 6-year-old son.
Two full weeks without pay meant real sacrifice, Cole said Friday.
“I ended up dropping a couple extracurricular activities for my son, and tightened up the grocery budget. I was budgeting down to the last penny,” said Cole, who in 2007 became a Lynnwood homeowner.
This year, she only has to take five furlough days. Cole knows she’s luckier than some workers. She is able to choose which days to take off, as long as her choices work with Cooper’s schedule. “For me, it was very convenient,” she said.
From management’s viewpoint, furlough days can play havoc with workloads and require scheduling adjustments.
Snohomish County Auditor Carolyn Weikel said Friday that her office took six set furlough days last year. This year, only a few workers in the Auditor’s Office will take any.
“Our work is cyclical,” said Weikel. “We got scrunched with a heavy workload and got behind, but in our normal cycle we were able to catch up. We did a lot of cross-training.”
While some workers will choose their unpaid days this year, Weikel sees benefits in shutting down an office on set days, as the state will do in many places Monday.
“You see more savings if you’re able to shut down buildings, or at least partial buildings,” Weikel said. As an elected official, she said she takes no furlough days.
Weikel heard a TV news report about Monday’s furloughs and said it incorrectly included car tabs among services that won’t be available. “We’re open,” she said, adding that vehicle tabs will also be sold through sub-agents.
Kathryn Fugere, the county’s deputy clerk, is a former president of the Snohomish County Clerk’s Association. Last year, she negotiated the agreement that required clerks to take 10 furlough days. “It was pretty close to a 5 percent pay cut,” Fugere said. As part of the furlough agreement, the clerks get extra vacation time this year.
Fugere said a few workers took last year’s days all at once, as two weeks off. “Most people took about one a month,” she said. “I do recall co-workers being able to take long weekends.”
She definitely felt the financial pinch. “We get paid every other week, and just one furlough day had a real impact. I had to make sure my bills were covered for that part of the month, and I didn’t go on any big shopping sprees.”
A few workers ran into snags while trying to buy homes, Fugere said. “You have your stated income, then your furlough income,” she said. “I wrote a letter on their behalf stating the terms, that they were only for a year.”
While she has concerns about underemploying a whole work force, Cole said there are sound reasons for furloughs. “If the economy turns around, you still have people. They’re trained.
“I think folks are really glad not to lose their jobs,” she said.
Julie Muhlstein: 425-339-3460, muhlstein@heraldnet.com.
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