1,446 Iowa judicial employees ordered to take unpaid day for budget cuts

The Iowa Judicial Branch on Friday became the first state agency to tell employees they will have to take an unpaid furlough day as legislators near agreement on a plan to save the state nearly $118 million in five months.

All court offices in the state will be closed and 1,446 court employees, except judges and magistrates, will be forced to take the unpaid day on May 26, which saves an estimated $364,573, Iowa State Court Administrator David K. Boyd told employees in a letter.

In all, the Judicial Branch expects it will be required to cut $3 million from its existing budget of about $180 million.

To meet a projected revenue shortfall before June 30, lawmakers are planning to de-appropriate more than $88 million and make about $25 million in fund transfers among other moves. The Gazette first reported Thursday that some 19,000 state employees represented by AFSCME will vote whether to accept the state's request they give up a recent 1.25 percent pay raise.

The Senate has passed the budget measure and the House is expected to pass it Monday. Gov. Terry Branstad has indicated he would sign it.

Boyd, in his letter to judicial employees, explained that since personnel costs account for about 95 percent of its operating budget, options to save money are limited. The key, he wrote, is to use vacant positions to make up most of the cut.

At the beginning of the fiscal year, there were 70 staff vacancies. That's now grown to 111. In addition, judge positions that became vacant during the year had been held open for about six months, he said.

'We budgeted for nine judgeship vacancies, but so far we have had 12,” Boyd said. 'Based on our savings to date, I believe we can hold sufficient positions vacant for the balance of the fiscal year to get us within $400,000 of covering the $3 million appropriation.”

Boyd said court officials will continue to search for savings from other 'measures.”

'If at some point between now and May 26th we find sufficient additional savings, we will cancel the need for this one day of court closures and unpaid leave.”

Boyd said judges and magistrates are expected to work that day unless approved to be off.

In the 6th Judicial District, the furlough will affect 155 employees, said Court Administrator Carroll Edmondson. The district includes Linn, Benton, Tama, Johnson, Iowa and Jones counties.

In his letter, Boyd noted that during the past two fiscal years all non-judicial employees received pay increases along with step increases for those already not at the top of their pay grade, Judges and magistrates have had only one increase since 2008.

The last statewide court closure due to budget cuts was in 2010, the Judicial Branch said.

l Comments: (319) 398-8318; trish.mehaffey@thegazette.com