Sedgwick County asking for volunteers or else could mandate furloughs
Sedgwick County is looking for employees to voluntarily furlough or officials could have to choose who isn’t essential.
The Sedgwick County Commission is expected to weigh in during its meeting Wednesday. Commissioners received an email about the furlough Friday when a separate email from County Manager Tom Stolz went out to the 2,500-plus employees, notifying them about the voluntary furlough as a result of the novel coronavirus pandemic.
“I think every employee of Sedgwick County knows that our manager has the best interest in mind when he makes these tough decisions,” Commissioner Michael O’Donnell II said. “And I have full faith in Tom Stolz as well.”
The email sent to employees says the furlough will span from April 19 to May 23. Employees could be called back before if “services are able to return to normal-functioning capacity.”
The people furloughed will remain Sedgwick County employees and still receive medical benefits. The employee contribution for those benefits is due on May 15 and May 29. Deductions for other benefits, like a health savings account, will be reduced from the employee’s paycheck when they return.
Additionally, Sedgwick County will start the paperwork so furloughed employees can start receiving unemployment benefits. Employees will not be able to use accrued leave, the email says.
“In preparing for the pandemic, county officials implemented measures to assist in mitigating risks to our employees,” the email says. “Some of these measures included closing departments and/or reducing services, asking employees to work remotely and limiting social interactions. Ultimately, the Coronavirus pandemic has had a profound impact on our organization and the services we provide.”
Officials could mandate furloughs if not enough people volunteer, according to an email sent to commissioners. The mandate would go from April 26 through at least May 23.
Emergency essential employees are not eligible for furlough. Earlier in the week, commissioners approved roughly $361,000 to be given to first-responders as hazard pay during two pay periods.
Commissioner Jim Howell said the hazard pay came from dollars outside of the budgeted wages and don’t impact the furlough decision.
Howell said he believes reduced sales taxes is the main blow to the county’s revenues but he hasn’t heard any financial data yet. Sales tax and use tax, a tax paid on property purchased in another state, are the second-largest revenue sources for the county. It was budgeted at $31.1 million in 2020.
“I have no doubt we will be asking lots of questions,” Howell said.
Every large organization is considering ways to cut expenses, Commissioner Pete Meitzner said.
“It’s just basic operations,” Meitzner said. “You have revenues and you have expenses. And there is no secret that revenues need to cover expenses to cover services.”
Wichita announced furloughs a couple of weeks ago. The city has also seen furloughs from its two largest employers: Spirit AeroSystems and Textron Aviation.
This story was originally published April 11, 2020 at 3:18 PM.