ORANGE - City of Orange Township employees are learning which 12 days between Jan. 1 and June 30 will they be taking unpaid furloughs.
"The city is in the process of informing its municipal employees of the furlough schedule," said Business Administrator John Mason to Local Talk Dec. 29. "The first day is set for Feb. 19 and the last June 25."
The full schedule, as outlined by Mason is Feb. 19 and 26, March 12 and 26, April 9 and 23, May 7, 14, 28 and June 11, 18 and 25.
On those said days, employees that are not uniform police or fire personnel are not to report for work. City Hall would be closed to the public.
Mason said that 129 employees will be affected. They include Mayor Eldridge Hawkins, Jr., the city council and all department heads - including Mason himself.
"The police and fire departments are exempted," said Mason. "The closings and furloughs will not affect garbage collection, recycling or senior citizen services because they are separately contracted."
Orange now follows Newark and Maplewood in having its municipal workers take unpaid days off during the 2009-10 fiscal budget year. Newark employees, for example, took four days off between Sept. 5 and Dec. 28.
Newark tried to ease the pain by scheduling the furlough days next holiday weekends. Mason noted that May 28, for example, is the Friday before the Memorial Day weekend. The days are otherwise scheduled to fall on non-holiday weekend Fridays.
"This is an unfortunate circumstance brought on by the current economic climate," said Mason. "Every municipality is facing it."
Mason said that Hawkins first mentioned the idea of furloughs in his Nov. 23 FY 2010 budget introduction address. The administrator said he then entered discussion with the city's trade unions and labor bargaining representatives.
"I called the presidents of the labor unions," said Mason. "I've had no response from them. If they have a viable, cost-effective plan or schedule, I'd welcome them."
Local Talk had been unable to reach representatives of Orange's municipal unions and public safety associations by deadline.
Mason said that he had meanwhile received furlough schedule approval from a New Jersey Civil Service Commission office.
The furloughs come while city elders work on getting a 2010 budget finalized. the ci.orange.nj.us Web site has scheduled departmental budget public hearings for Community Service and Fire 6:30 p.m. Dec. 30; Administration, Finance, Planning and Development Jan. 11; City Clerk, Library and Public Works and Engineering Jan. 13. A hearing for the Police and law departments and the Municipal Court was held Dec. 28.
Mayor Hawkins has meanwhile announced, on Dec. 23, that Orange will receive $500,000 in Extraordinary Aid from the state. The State Legislature, through an office of the Department of Community Affairs, awards extraordinary aid from unspent budget items semiannually to municipalities that are deed to have had unusual or severe financial circumstances.
Orange, by law, has to directly include the $500,000 into the proposed municipal property tax levy. Hawkins said the savings will reduce the proposed tax increase by 1.7 percent; the increase is now projected to 7 percent.
"When we applied we had little expectation that we'd actually receive it due to the dire financial conditions at the state level," said Hawkins in his announcement. "We applied nonetheless, because we didn't want to leave any stone unturned in the pursuit in limiting the property tax increase. I want to thank Sen. Richard Codey (D-West Orange) and our assembly member for going to bat for Orange and convincing the state to grant us these funds."
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