Mount Laurel employees ordered to take furloughs

Township employees in Mount Laurel must take off one unpaid day per month through June, under a new plan recently approved by the state to save the cash-strapped municipality about $176,000.

The furloughs will extend to about 140 of the township's 220 employees. The remaining employees are in the Police Department, which will be unaffected, Jennifer Blumenthal, township manager, said. Emergency medical services will be staffed on furlough days by per-diem workers, she added.

The furlough days this year are Nov. 20 and Dec. 4. Furlough days next year will be Jan. 15, Feb. 12, March 19, April 16, May 14, and June 18.

The state-approved plan was made in the face of a "dangerous" financial situation, Blumenthal said. Even after raising taxes as high as the state would allow, she said, this year's budget leaves only $600,000 on hand to tackle any unexpected costs. - Matthew Spolar