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Dallas Begins First of Three Unpaid Furlough Days to Trim $30 Million Budget Gap

City leaders say the unpaid days are a short-term cost cut to address weaker sales tax receipts, rising police and fire overtime, and growing employee medical claims.

Overview

  • Thousands of non-uniform general-fund employees began an unpaid furlough on July 10 as the city implements three mandatory days off to help close about a $30 million shortfall.
  • The furloughs cover more than 4,000 civilian workers and shut public-facing services including City Hall and all Dallas Public Library branches while online services remain available.
  • Emergency and critical operations such as Dallas police, Fire-Rescue/911, Dallas Water Utilities, sanitation services, Love Field and airport operations continue to run without interruption.
  • City managers say the gap stems from weaker sales-tax revenue, higher-than-expected police and fire overtime, and rising employee medical claims, and they paired furloughs with a hiring freeze for nonuniform positions and tighter overtime limits.
  • Two additional unpaid furlough days are set for Sept. 4 and Sept. 28, the city has published a list of affected offices, and officials plan further budget talks this summer as they weigh near-term cuts against preserving jobs and benefits.