DALLAS, Texas — Dallas will require more than 4,200 civilian city employees to take three unpaid days off this year as the city scrambles to close a $30 million budget shortfall driven by declining sales tax revenue and rising costs for police overtime and employee healthcare.
The furlough days are scheduled for July 10, September 4 and September 28, and apply to roughly half of the city's civilian workforce. A group of city executives must also take two additional unpaid days before September 16. Police officers, firefighters, paramedics, 911 dispatchers, and workers at Dallas Love Field Airport, the sanitation department, and Water Utilities are exempt.
> "Furloughs are not our preferred solution," said Dallas City Manager Kimberly Bizor Tolbert. "However, they enable us to reduce expenses, protect jobs and employee health benefits, and continue delivering services to our residents."
Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson called on the City Council to "thoroughly examine every part of our City government for opportunities to reduce spending and improve efficiency," adding that "Dallas literally cannot afford to maintain the status quo."
Higher-than-expected costs for police and firefighter overtime, increased healthcare expenses — including GLP-1 medications — and a drop in sales tax revenue combined to create the shortfall, city officials said Tuesday. The city had already imposed a hiring freeze and eliminated overtime for non-uniform employees before resorting to furloughs.