Santa Cruz County furloughs begin Friday

SANTA CRUZ, Calif. (KION) County budget cuts, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, will bring mandatory furloughs for all of the 2,000 plus Santa Cruz County employees.

Most county government services will be closed 11 weekdays this year, including Friday. Most county workers will be required to lose 19 days of work or 7.5%. All department heads will be furloughed for 10% of the fiscal year.

The economic downfall during the pandemic costs the county more than $30 million. The board of supervisors will have to make additional cuts in August.

“What we’re able to do for the public in the foreseeable future will be reduced,” county spokesman Jason Hoppin said.

There could be delays in getting permits, or any other kind of record, registering to vote and receiving a marriage license.

The public health department is included in the furloughs.

“We have been trying to balance how do we do coverage, and furloughs, and work on skeleton crews. There are a lot of pressures on the staffing complexities that impact us,” Health Services Director Mimi Hall said.

Two-thirds of the county's total coronavirus cases have been reported in just the last two weeks.

“Our staff is overwhelmed by the sheer number of cases that is increasing every day,” Health Officer Dr. Gail Newel said.

These furloughs are coming as county health officials say keeping up with contact tracing is more difficult than ever. Cases are spiking and there are major delays in test results. To help with contact tracing, the county’s developed a contact tracing plan that individual businesses can take part in.

“The first thing most people do is alert their employer. So this our way to engage employers to begin the process of contact tracing,” Hall said.

Businesses are asked to report any cases to the county, and if there are more than three, an employer is supposed to report if any other employees may have been exposed.

“A population health problem takes a public health approach, and part of that approach is getting every one’s help to do this,” Hall said.