Many Sonoma County offices will be closed between Dec. 24, 2009 and Jan. 3, 2010 due to a Mandatory Time Off program adopted by the county to save money and help balance the budget.
The Mandatory Time Off program, which is expected to save the county $4.3 million, enabled the board of supervisors to preserve many important programs and services that would otherwise have been cut from the county’s budget.
Under the Mandatory Time Off program, nearly all county employees will take five unpaid days off of work during this fiscal year. The majority of these days off will occur during the December closure.
A full list of office closures is available on The Sun web site at sonomasun.com.
However, it is important to note that certain services, such as law enforcement, water delivery, transportation and some health services will continue without interruption.
The dates of the Mandatory Time Off closures are Dec. 24, and the week of Dec. 28 through Jan. 1. County offices will reopen Jan. 4, 2010. This time period was selected for Mandatory Time Off because it typically has a lower demand for services than other times of the year.
Sonoma County Libraries plan 10-day closure
All 13 libraries in the Sonoma County Library system, including the branch on West Napa Street, will be closed from 2 p.m. on Christmas Eve through Sunday, Jan. 3, 2010, to help make up for a budget shortfall.
The library’s web site and all online services also will be shut down during this time period. Details of the closure and instructions for cardholders about returning and renewing library materials will be available online and at the libraries by mid-November.
The library, which gets 90 percent of its income from property taxes, needs to cut its operating budget by $1.7 million this fiscal year to make up for a shortfall in tax revenues. The library commission voted to close the libraries for 10 days in an effort to avoid layoffs.
PDF of complete lists
