NEW ORLEANS — City employees making more than $30,000 per year will take 26 furlough days in 2021 in an effort by the city to cut costs in the annual budget if the city council approves the budget plan submitted Monday.
The furlough days, which are expected to be spread across all 26 pay periods throughout the upcoming year, are just one of the steps city accountants outlined in the proposed budget.
"Furlough days are an important and a necessary part of this budget," said Gilbert Montano, the city's Chief Accounting Officer.
Nearly 5,000 employees work for the city government, and the furloughs will affect most of them.
Montano said 527 employees make below the $30,000 threshold.
But city council members being briefed on the budget balked at the furlough cutoff threshold, with at least two expressing a desire to find an extra $1.5 million needed to raise it to $35,000.
"If you're a single ... parent on $35,000 a year, that is still not a lot," said councilmember Helena Moreno. "For a single-parent household, that is really tough. That is paycheck to paycheck."
More than 930 employees would be exempt from the furloughs if they only applied to employees making $35,000 or more.
"Every single dollar is critical for these families," Moreno said.
Montano stressed that the budget proposal reflects a snapshot of the city's projections based on the data they have, and that it could change drastically based on circumstances related to the coronavirus pandemic.
If there is a windfall in the form of state or federal funding, some furloughed employees could be reimbursed or have future furlough days canceled.
On the other hand, if there is another spike and COVID-19 cases go back up, the city could see more shutdowns and more cuts. But Mayor LaToya Cantrell said her administration was doing everything it could to prevent a slide, even as other cities and states around the country see new spikes in coronavirus cases.
"That will hurt us more, and that is what we're seeing from cities across the country,"' she said of being forced back into a shutdown. "Places that had to slip back...are having a harder time turning it around."
Nearly all city departments are expected to take budget cuts, with some administrative departments taking the brunt of the impact while public safety organizations keep more.
The New Orleans Police Department will take a 6% pay cut under the budget, and the New Orleans Fire Department would take an 8% cut.
Other agencies absorbed more of the shortfall. The Department of Transportation had its proposed budget slashed by 25%. The city is estimating that when averaged out, departments will take about a 20% cut.
The full proposed budget can be read here. It must be read by the city council members, who will make changes and vote on an amended version sometime before the end of the year. The vote usually happens in November.
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