"N.H. court looks to cut costs; Asks employees to consider unpaid days off" by Associated Press | September 21, 2008
CONCORD, N.H. - New Hampshire's court system is under orders to cut nearly $3 million in spending by June 30, and it's asking employees if they would consider taking unpaid days off.
Donald Goodnow, director of the Administrative Office of the Courts, said the unpaid furloughs could save the courts money, but just how much depends on how many of the system's 700 employees would stay home.
Goodnow sent employees an e-mail on Monday to gauge interest. As of Friday, 22 employees replied, saying they were interested in voluntary unpaid time off. Goodnow told the Concord Monitor the state Supreme Court will make the final decision on whether to offer furloughs.
The measure is one solution that court officials proposed as they try to meet a requirement that they cut $2.7 million from their $73 million budget by the end of this fiscal year.
Goodnow did not know whether the response would be substantial enough to stave off other cuts. He said officials, judges and justices came up with other ideas to trim the budget, but he declined to elaborate on what those were.
The State Employees Association, which represents 42 employees in the state court system, told the newspaper furloughs would cause more problems in an overburdened court system.
"The courts are already overloaded and backlogged with pending cases. How can the courts hope to function efficiently by asking employees to take unpaid time off in order to cut costs?" said Mike Barwell, spokesman for SEA/SEIU 1984. "This is another case in point that the state's inability to adequately fund basic services will be borne on the backs of the employees who are there to serve the people of New Hampshire."
Yeah, tax giveaways to corporations don't count.
