GUSTINE – Residents wanting to do business at City Hall had best not wait until the end of the week.

In a cost-cutting move to help address local government’s budget crisis, City Hall will be closed Fridays starting in November.

“Most staff members will be working four nine-hour days and will be off Fridays,” City Manager Margaret Silveira explained.

City staff will be working in the closed offices one Friday each month; another Friday will be treated as a furlough day if negotiations to that affect are finalized with clerks. Silveira said non-represented management employees have voluntarily agreed to take the monthly furlough day.

In addition to the savings generated by furlough days, Silveira said, the new schedule will result in undetermined energy savings from the Friday closures, and will trim overtime incurred as employees prepare for each business day and close up shop afterward. “Overtime is not a big issue, but is is an expense,” Silveira noted.

City staffers will work from 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. to accommodate those duties; City Hall will be open to the public from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Thursday.

“The one Friday a month that we will be working with our doors closed will be an opportunity to catch up on some of our work,” Silveira explained. “It will help us address the understaffing situation that we have here.”

City officials expect to save more than $20,000 a year in salary costs through the move.

There is a concern about inconveniencing the public, Silveira acknowledged, but the offset of that is saving taxpayer dollars.

Public works employees will still be operating on a standard schedule, but no water shut-offs will be scheduled for Friday.

City Council member Lynn Schultz said he is not entirely sold on the new schedule, but is taking a wait-and-see approach to evaluate its effectiveness.

“I’m looking for every way we can save money by cutting operating expenses, but we’re only looking at saving about eight hours per person per month,” he commented. “It is a cost-savings, but you have to weigh it out against everything else.”

If it appears the Friday closure is unduly impacting the public or not producing the desired results, Schultz said, the new schedule can be rescinded.

“It is not set in stone,” he pointed out.

“It is a concern,” council member Bart Garcia agreed. “If we start getting complaints, we can open on Fridays again.”