YOUNGSTOWN — With the addition of court workers and some changes at the executive-branch level, 67 full-time city workers and 22 part-timers were furloughed to help save money for Youngstown during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Also, not all of the furloughs were voluntary as originally described by Mayor Jamael Tito Brown. They were voluntary for union employees, but not for nonunion workers.

Of the 67 full-timers, 15 nonunion employees didn’t volunteer to be furloughed.

But Kyle Miasek, the city’s interim finance director, said all 15 are making their same salary or “slightly better off” by being furloughed and haven’t lost their medical coverage.

“We identified employees we felt we could get by without who weren’t negatively impacted by going on furlough,” he said. “We need them, but we’re trying to operate with (fewer) employees during this time.”

City officials initially said 60 full-time workers and 21 part-timers had taken voluntary furloughs that started April 27 with the judicial branch given an extension of a week. That then changed to 57 full-time and 22 part-time.

The reduction of three full-time workers and addition of one part-timer on furlough from the original numbers were because “they changed their minds,” Miasek said. Also, nine of those 57 full-time workers didn’t take the furloughs voluntarily with the decision made by management, he said.

The full-time number reaches 67 with the addition of court workers. The city’s judicial branch was given an extension to last Friday for furloughs that take effect today.

Four who work for the municipal court judges took voluntary furloughs and Sarah Brown-Clark, clerk of courts, chose six workers from her office to be furloughed.

When the administration announced the furlough policy April 22, Brown wanted 7 to 10 percent of the full-time workforce of about 715 to participate.

The 67 full-timers on furlough equals 9.4 percent.

The city saves $4,000 per full-time employee on average per month per furlough and about $1,500 per month for part-timers, Miasek said.

The furloughs will save the city $301,000 per month and are expected to last until June 30 and then be reviewed to see if they will be extended for another month.

The furloughs don’t include firefighters, police officers, 911 department and sanitation workers, as they were all deemed essential.

The part-time workers are parks and recreation department employees and police department clerks.

But with the city facing a significant budget crunch because of the pandemic, the savings — even if it lasts for three months and saves $903,000 — will make only a slight dent in the tax dollars it will lose.

The city will lose at least 15 percent of its income tax collections this year, Miasek said.

The city had budgeted $43.5 million in those collections. A 15 percent loss is $6,525,000.

The city also is losing casino and gas taxes, Miasek said.

Those who took the furloughs are able to keep their medical coverage, while paying their 10 percent premiums, and are guaranteed that they won’t be out of work any longer than July 31.

Also, employees who took the voluntary furloughs are eligible for state unemployment and are able to collect an additional $600 weekly unemployment from the federal government through the CARES Act. That $600 additional federal unemployment payment expires July 31.

Those who took the furloughs won’t accrue sick and vacation time, and the city will stop paying into their pensions while they’re not working. Also, furloughed employees will lose a year of longevity pay because of a break in service.

In April 22 letters given last week to city employees, Brown wrote the temporary reduction is “an attempt to avoid a forced layoff.”

dskolnick@tribtoday.com