HOUSTON – The city of Houston will consider furloughs for police officers and firefighters as it weighs options to save money, Houston Mayor Annise Parker said in a letter released Wednesday.
"The letter was not a surprise to us,” said Gary Blankenship, the president of the Houston Police Officer’s Union. “We knew, early on, that the economic times in Texas and across the states are tough."
The option is something that long-time political watchers in Houston say they have never seen: the words “furlough” and “classified employees,” in the same sentence in a letter from the mayor talking about potential ways to close a budget gap.
The letter states that the city of Houston’s budget deficit for 2011 is nearly $100 million, and getting bigger.
There are nine so called “alternative strategies” to close the gap. One is a furlough of civilian employees for two days a month, which could provide an annual savings of $24 million. Another is classified-employee furloughs, which could save $2.3 million per day. One day a month would end up creating a savings of $27.6 million.
It would likely be the last option, and it wasn’t popular with Houstonians 11 News talked to Wednesday night.
"We need cops and firefighters,” one person said. “We need more cops and firefighters.”
Despite what the letter says, the mayor's office said she has no intention to actually take police officers or firefighters off the streets.
Blankenship, the head of the Houston Police Union, said he has no doubt what a furlough program would mean.
"Oh, I think you'll see a rising crime rate continue to rise," he said.
