Residents lament Dallas public library closures on citywide furlough day

DALLAS - Dallas enacted the first of three mandatory furlough days on Friday, and residents hoping to spend summer hours at public libraries were disappointed to find them closed.

July 10 Dallas furlough day

What we know:

Several Dallas buildings, services and utilities were closed July 10, the first of three scheduled unpaid furlough days the city has scheduled. 

Offices and facilities that were closed included Dallas City Hall, public libraries, and cultural centers.

"I was bummed"

What they're saying:

Several Dallas residents who regularly use public libraries for various reasons were disappointed to find them closed due to the furlough day.

"It's somewhere convenient where you can do your homework, or do a class online, or get documents and stuff done," Sylvester Harris, who uses the library to complete online courses, tells FOX 4's Lori Brown.

"I'm really in a crunch today."

Jacqueline Chacon regularly comes with her two children to the library.

"I was bummed. So my son, David actually, he has autism. So the library has a lot of things to help."

Chacon says she hopes the city considers library investments in their next budget to keep a closure like today from happening.

"It's our future as well, because we're going to be a lot older, and they're going to be the ones in charge."

Incoming 7th graders Ames and Jenson Dills were planning on checking out books today, but found the doors locked at their library.

"I think we all need to be able to open up the libraries again to go check out books and have fun this summer," Ames Dills said.

"We learned about this in school a little bit," Jenson Dills said. "We should be able to cut some of the things that aren't necessarily essential for other things that are a little more essential."

Their younger sister Milly agreed.

"You should always keep the libraries open," Milly told Brown.

Dallas budget shortfall

The backstory:

In April, the City of Dallas announced it is facing a shortfall in its General Fund for the 2025-26 fiscal year, with expenses expected to exceed the budget by $16.4 million.

The city blamed the shortfall primarily on police and fire overtime pay, as well as declining sales tax collections and increased medical claims bringing the Employee Health Benefit Fund $13.8 million over budget.

While the city primarily blames police and fire pay and overtime, it also says about 20 percent of the problem is due to declining sales tax collections. 

To remedy the situation, the city froze new hires, with an exception for uniformed police and fire personnel. It also restricted overtime and reduced non-critical spending and travel.

The unpaid furlough days were announced in late June. The mandatory furlough days affect employees paid by the city's General Fund.

For an employee making about $66,000 a year, those three days will add up to more than $760 in lost pay.

Employees will not be able to take vacation, sick leave, or comp time on those dates.

What's next:

The city council will begin the next round of budget discussions in August. The next furlough days scheduled for the City of Dallas will take place on Friday, Sept. 4 and Monday, Sept. 28.