PHOENIX - Don't count on getting anything you need at a state agency on July 23. It will be a state holiday, so to speak.
OK, not really a holiday. But state offices will be shut just as tight as if it were. The same goes for Aug. 20, Sept. 17, Nov. 26 and Dec. 23.
All are either Fridays or holiday weekends when state workers will be sent home on mandatory furlough days without pay.
The Legislature has mandated a 5 percent cut in salary costs, and the Department of Administration is meeting that goal through a mix of furlough days and eliminating the performance-pay raise that state workers got several years ago.
Rather than staggering days off so offices could remain open to the public, the department chose to close everything at once because, spokesman Alan Ecker said, shutting down buildings entirely means not having to pay for utilities on furlough days, providing extra savings.
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Seven more furlough days have been put on the 2011 calendar, and one is slated for 2012.
"One of the things we found out is that Mondays, as far as foot traffic and call volume, are probably the most heavily utilized day, with Friday being the least," Ecker said, so closing offices on Fridays would result in minimal disruption of service to residents.
There will be exceptions.
"You can't close down a prison for a day," Ecker said. Any other 24/7 operation also would be exempt, such as the state nursing home for veterans and the Department of Public Safety.
But Ecker said other agencies, including such heavily used offices as the Motor Vehicle Division, will be closing, although transportation officials said they are evaluating to see if they need to seek an exemption for some services.
