Venango County gave its employees the option of a voluntary furlough, and earlier this month about 10% of the workers were furloughed voluntarily, Diona Brick, the county’s fiscal administrator, said.
Sam Breene, chairman of the county commissioners, said benefits for those employees will continue throughout the furlough.
The decision was made out of “an abundance of caution” and concerns for employee safety as well as to save money, the commissioners said.
“We spend a lot of time analyzing things and are still tightening our belts to the degree possible. We are also asking if we delay spending on a project will it cost more money,” Brick said.
The furloughs were pretty even across the board and affected courts, row offices, county staff and human services, commissioner Albert Abramovic said.
“We have two responsibilities. One is to the county employees that they have a safe place to work, the other is to the taxpayers whose money pays for the services we are expected to provide. This must be at the forefront of our decisions,” Breene said.
The commissioners commended Brick for her work managing the county’s finances.
