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In order to increase Riverdale Park's diminishing reserves, the mayor is ordering all town employees to take a week of unpaid leave before the end of this fiscal year.

Furloughs will save the town $44,000 and account for one-third of budget cuts that will increase the town's cash reserves from about $466,000 to $600,000. Other cuts include overtime freezes, except in emergencies, and contracting trash collection rather than doing it in-house, saving the town $90,000

Mayor Vernon Archer said Riverdale Park needs two months of cash reserves; it currently has a little more than a month's worth of reserves.

"If we were in good economic times, we basically wouldn't be worrying about this," Archer said. "It's the fact we know we're in a recession and there's no end in sight, it's making us much more cautious and be more proactive, so we don't have to take much more drastic steps next fiscal year."

The cuts and furloughs will still leave the town about $100,000 short of its two-month reserves' goal of $710,000, a standard Archer set in 2005, which the town's auditors signed off on. There is no professional standard on reserve amounts, Archer said.

On Jan. 5, the Town Council voted 4-1, with one council member absent, in favor of the furloughs.

Councilwoman Katherine Sharpe (Ward 2) voted against the resolution, calling furloughs a one-time solution to an ongoing problem.

"I feel like we're going to face the same revenue situation next year, and I feel like we should make a more permanent budget decision," she said.

The town employs 42 people. The police department, with 18 sworn officers, has the largest number of employees.

Furlough days will be spread out throughout the next six months. Police officers may take their furlough time in increments of four or two hours per pay period over 10 weeks, Chief Teresa Chambers said.

Some officers will likely take the incremental unpaid time off when the department is otherwise fully-staffed, Chambers said.

"It really will have minimal, if any, impact on service to the public," she said.

Jim Peck, Maryland Municipal League's director of research, said he is not aware of any other incorporated municipalities in the state implementing furloughs, but many are balancing budgets with hiring freezes and cuts to projects and purchases. MML is a nonprofit that provides support to municipalities.

"Clearly, it's a sign of the economic times. I wouldn't be surprised if we see other municipalities doing it soon," he said of furloughs.

E-mail Elahe Izadi at eizadi@gazette.net.