Politics & Government

Saratoga City Employees Receive $750 For 2 Holiday Furlough Days

The two consecutive paid days will take place Dec. 27-28 at a cost of about $42,000.

The Saratoga City Council has voted to give all its full-time municipal employees a $750 compensation for two holiday furlough days Dec. 27-28 at a cost of about $42,000.

According to Saratoga Mayor Chuck Page, the one-time authorization of the paid holiday days for its 50-plus employees was negotiated between government officials and the bargaining groups that represent the city workers.

A staff report said after reviewing city finances at the close of fiscal year 2011-12, the Council Finance Committee recommended that the Council acknowledge its appreciation of employees and recognize concessions they made over the last several years by authorizing the two consecutive paid holiday furlough days.

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The days were scheduled as unpaid holiday furlough days. However, they will now be funded with one-time monies from the current year budgetary savings, and will result in no additional expense for future fiscal years, the staff report said.

Page explained city employees were asked earlier this year to come together and figure out how to cut money from the municipality's budget by $350,000, and they did. "They all came together and agreed on some cuts," Page noted, explaining that part of those concessions were two unpaid furlough days.

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The money is coming out of the 2012-13 fiscal year, Page explained. "This is a way of recognizing them for their efforts, which were fruitful and ended up saving us money this past year," he said.

The mayor added that the city, which always balances its budget, ended up with a surplus, which resulted from workers making concessions helping the city cut its operating costs.

"We've seen a reduction in revenue," Page said. "But we can't run a deficit in this city. We have to balance our budget. Sometimes we end up with a little bit extra and they had agreed to the concessions."

Some of the concessions included not carrying over vacation days, paying for some of their benefits, etc. Part of the agreement also included the unpaid furlough days a year, he said.


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