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A woman attempts to open the front door of the closed J. Erik Jonsson Central Library, July 10, 2026, after the city decided to furlough employees to save money. She found the doors locked and a sign informing her of the furlough.<\/p>\n
Tom Fox\/The Dallas Morning News<\/p>\n
A notice about closures and mandatory furloughs is seen on the back entrance doors on July 10, 2026 at Dallas City Hall.<\/p>\n
Devyani Chhetri<\/p>\n
Blake Gomez had taken a 30-minute trip Friday to Dallas City Hall from his home in Pleasant Grove to\u00a0pay his water bill<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n Across the road, a mother rattled the doors of the J. Erik Jonsson Central Library while another woman walked away. Both had come downtown to get birth certificates.\u00a0<\/p>\n Like Gomez, both were turned away into the Texas heat. Notices on the locked doors said Friday was the city\u2019s first mandatory furlough day.<\/a><\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n It was part of City Manager Kimberly Bizor Tolbert’s cost-saving plan requiring most city employees to take\u00a0three days of unpaid leave<\/a>. The city faces a budget shortfall of about $30 million. Furloughs are expected to save $5 million.<\/p>\n Soaring police and fire overtime costs, lower-than-expected sales tax revenue<\/a> and rising employee health expenses have contributed to the budget strain. The city also has instituted a hiring freeze and restricted employee travel.\u00a0<\/p>\n First responders and certain service employees are excluded from the furloughs. Senior staffers are being asked to take an additional two furlough days.\u00a0<\/p>\n Residents and some public officials questioned the city\u2019s decision, saying the measure was lowering employee morale. In the absence of a recession, many asked whether the city was in a deeper financial hole than it was admitting.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Residents meet locked doors\u00a0<\/p>\n Dallas resident Rosaland Glover was fuming when she saw the furlough notice on the central library\u2019s door Friday. She had planned to use the public computers to finish a job application. She said she couldn\u2019t believe the city was mandating furloughs during the summer heat when people need a place to cool off.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s just terrible how they want taxpayers to pay for this and that, but we don\u2019t get access to public places,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Two Dallas police officers were at the library telling people the building was closed.<\/p>\n About four people experiencing homelessness sat in the shade on the library\u2019s front step. A police officer told them they couldn’t go inside and asked them to leave.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Gomez, the Pleasant Grove resident, unhooked his bike near City Hall\u2019s back entrance to head home. His water bill was due Friday, but he had no choice but to try again later.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ll be back Monday,\u201d the 72-year-old said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Pleasant Grove residnet Blake Gomez, 72, is seen outside the back entrance of City Hall on July 10, 2026. Gomez had come to the building to pay his water bill.\u00a0<\/p>\n Devyani Chhetri<\/p>\n But coming back another day may not be easy for everyone.\u00a0<\/p>\n A Fort Worth resident drove more than an hour and paid $20 for parking to get her husband\u2019s birth certificate. She had been told the central library was the best place in Dallas to get the certificate.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Dallas resident Tracy Craig and her daughter also went to the library to get a birth certificate so Craig\u2019s grandson could be enrolled in school.\u00a0<\/p>\n Instead, they found the library and its vital statistics office closed.<\/p>\n Uncertainty beyond furloughs\u00a0<\/p>\n City workers had little warning before their first furlough day, and many are frustrated because they believe they\u2019re being asked to absorb the cost of the city’s budget shortfall, a union representative said.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIt shouldn’t fall on the shoulders of the city workers to plug this budget gap that they had nothing to do with,\u201d said John Mallon, the vice president of Chapter<\/a>\u00a09487 of the United Steelworkers<\/a>, which represents Dallas County and city of Dallas workers.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Dallas employees also worry the furloughs could be the first step toward layoffs if the city’s financial outlook worsens, Mallon said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Dallas City Hall is reflected in the windows of the closed J. Erik Jonsson Central Library, July 10, 2026, after the city decided to furlough employees to save money. They left signs on the door to inform visitors of their closure.<\/p>\n Tom Fox\/The Dallas Morning News<\/p>\n At least four city employees showed up Friday at Chilangos Tacos on Ross Avenue to receive free lunch from former Dallas City Council member Philip Kingston<\/a>. He and his wife offered to buy lunch for 100 city workers.\u00a0<\/p>\n The workers declined to comment on the furloughs due to fear of retaliation.\u00a0<\/p>\n City Plan Commissioner Melissa Kingston said she\u2019s never seen employee morale as low as it was Friday.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re furloughing our workers without an obvious economic reason to do so,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Cities and private companies typically furlough employees during recessions.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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