Closed libraries, city services frustrate Dallas residents as employees furloughed over budget issues
Dallas residents hoping to access city services were met with locked doors on Friday as municipal employees were furloughed to help shore up the city's finances.
Public libraries, city hall, code compliance offices, and cultural and community centers were included in the closures.
The city announced last week that General Fund employees will be required to take at least three furlough days by the end of September; The city faces a $30 million shortfall in the 2026 budget.
CBS News Texas found some disappointed residents at the Lakewood Branch Library unaware of the furloughs.
"I was kind of disappointed, because since yesterday we were planning to come to the library," said Karen Nunez, who was with a friend hoping to use the computers.
Sabrina Camarillo was also hoping to use the computers, as well as read to her granddaughter. "I come once a month, and it was just disappointing knowing that I wasn't able to get what I needed done," she said.
Emergency and essential services like the Dallas Police Department, Dallas Fire Rescue, 911 operations and the sanitation department were not impacted. Employees of the municipal courts, Dallas Animal Services, recreation centers, pools, golf courses and Fair Park will be furloughed on alternate dates.
"It hurts working families"
On Friday afternoon, some community members offered free lunches to furloughed workers at Chilango Tacos.
John Mallon, a leader with the union that represents many of them, said the budget gap should not fall on the shoulders of frontline workers.
"This is just the latest in a long series of episodes of mismanagement by this administration and this council," Mallon, the vice president of USW Local 9487, said.
CBS News Texas also spoke to several furloughed employees who did not want to go on camera.
"The workers of the city, we don't have a voice at the table. They made a decision without us. It surprised most of us, I don't think we saw this coming. I certainly didn't, and now we have to deal with the fallout from this," Mallon said. "It hurts working families."
Dallas City Manager Kimberly Bizor Tolbert said last week that furloughs were not their preferred solution, but "they enable us to reduce expenses, protect jobs and employee health benefits."
The next two furlough days are set for September 4 and September 28.
