Government Budgeting Problems

I have the good fortune to work in a relatively large city as an employee of the Police Department. This means I fall under civil service, and when the city is running low on money, they give us days off without paying us.

I understand how that happens, and this is not a polemic about the fact that these things are necessary, but it is an expression of wonderment at the procedures used.

Here, there were three levels of furlough for civilians -

1. Earnings up to $50k - 5 furlough days
2. Earnings up to $100k - 8 furlough days
3. Earnings over $100k - 10 furlough days

The days were to be taken whenever, and the deduction, instead of occurring during the cycle in which the days were taken, was spread over the balance of the payroll year.

Someone who thought that the folks in range 1 probably need everything they make, and was more interested in getting a bunch of Fridays off than in getting rich, offered to take those days as added furlough days allowing the other folks whose days he was taking to avoid losing money - and in the process save the city more money, since his pay was in range 2 of the furlough groups.

The offer was made, but it went nowhere. No explanation was offered as to why the city wanted not to take the opportunity to save more money - it just could not be done.

The individual involved did try to do something good for his fellow workers and for the city, and the offer was not even acknowledged, nor was a reason for the impossibility ever offered.

How it can be that a city so troubled that it can't make a payroll without hacking away at the number of days of work its employees has can afford to fail to double the savings in one small area is beyond me - but it did happen just as I describe - I was there.