Vermont courts to shutter to save money
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By Louis Porter VERMONT PRESS BUREAU - Published: July 8, 2009
MONTPELIER — Vermont courts will be closed for 12 days during the current fiscal year that began with the start of the month in an effort to save money. Court employees will not be paid during those furlough days, which should save as much as $420,000.
There are some exceptions — some courts will remain open to deal with emergency needs.
A previously issued schedule of half-day closings will remain in effect, except where those half-day closings (to deal with budget cuts during fiscal year 2009 which just ended) would be in the same week with the newly announced full day closings.
"In order to spread the reductions evenly across the fiscal year we think we should institute the 12 furlough days as quickly as we could," said Robert Greemore, acting court administrator.
Over the last year the courts — like the rest of state government — have had to deal with midyear cuts to their budget because of lower than expected revenue.
In order to save about $550,000 the judiciary instituted a 5 percent pay reduction for workers making more than $60,000 a year and closed courts for half-days.
Now, with a roughly $14 million gap in the budget to meet across the three branches of state government, those measures are being kept and expanded on.
The 12 furlough days represent a roughly 5 percent pay cut for those court workers not hit by the previous reduction (although they will get the time off). With the full-day court closings the courts should be able to reduce their budgets by about $400,000 to $420,000, Greemore said. Other measures may also be necessary.
"We probably need more reductions to the budget to get through the fiscal year," he said. The court's officials are talking to the bargaining unit that represents judiciary workers to find other possible areas of savings, he added.
About 200 workers who did not receive the previous pay cuts will be affected by the 12 furlough days.
The judiciary budget is about $35 million annually, of which about $31 million comes from the state-supported General Fund.
For court document filing deadlines the furlough days will be counted as holidays.
The full schedule is on the Vermont judiciary Web site, but the full-day furloughs are — with some exceptions — planned for Friday, July 17, Friday, Aug. 7, Wednesday, Sept. 2, Friday, Oct. 2. Friday, Oct. 30. Friday, Dec. 11, Friday, Jan. 8, Friday, Feb. 5, Friday, March 12, Friday, April 2, Friday, May 7 and Wednesday, May 26.
Current exceptions are the Bennington District and Family courts which will be closed Friday, July 10 and open on Friday July 17, and Franklin Superior Court, which will be closed Tuesday, July 28 and open Friday, July 17.
louis.porter@rutland herald.com
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