TRAVERSE CITY -- Taxpayers looking for help from local government today won't find many options.
Many area municipal offices are closed today, part of a growing trend of pre- and post-holiday paid time off for public sector employees.
A survey of local governments around the five-county area showed various approaches toward shutting down for the holidays, although most will be closed today, with officials citing union contract agreements or local government policy.
"Ours is driven by a union contract and the way it's written, employees have Christmas Eve and Christmas Day off, also New Year's Eve and New Year's Day," said Peggy Kole, an administrative assistant in the Antrim County coordinator's office, where the courthouse in Bellaire is closed today.
Ditto for the Benzie County government complex in Beulah. County Administrator Chuck Clarke said Benzie government offices are closed on both Dec. 24 and 31.
"We've been doing this forever, as far as I can tell," Clarke said.
Clarke said the days are counted as holidays in various county union contracts and that the policy was extended throughout county government to provide the same perk to non-union employees and administrators.
Clarke also said the county follows the holiday schedule of the state court administrator's office, noting that state courts have been closed for years on the day before Christmas and New Year's.
"I would say we have a modest number of holidays compared to what other entities do," Clarke said.
The inconsistent approach to the holidays is evident at the Governmental Center in Traverse City. On the city side of the building today is a regular work day, but Grand Traverse County's side of the complex is shuttered for a county holiday.
The 86th District and 13th Circuit courts, which cover Grand Traverse, Antrim and Leelanau Counties, are closed both New Year's Eve and Christmas Eve.
"Almost everybody" who works for the courts is covered by union contracts that specify them as paid days off, district court office manager Tina Lehn said.
Lehn doesn't believe it's out of the ordinary for the courts to close their doors on those days.
"There's a lot of offices that are closed," Lehn said.
Leelanau County's new courthouse along M-204 is open today, although its court offices are closed. County officials said the courthouse has closed for more than a decade on Christmas Eve, but New Year's Eve remains a regular work day for county employees.
Garfield Township was closed Christmas Eve, but will remain open all day on New Year's Eve, Clerk Kay Schumacher said. The work schedule was negotiated with the township's employees union, she said, although not all township workers are union members.
"It's kind of a contract deal," she said.
Kalkaska County employees will work today, but some offices shut down early on Christmas Eve and all were closed on Dec. 26, said county Clerk Patricia Rodgers.
"It's just because it's the holidays and union negotiations," Rodgers said. "It's just the way they've always done it."
A few complaints were heard from residents seeking to do county business on Christmas Eve and phones were heard ringing without answer that day, Rodgers said.
Her office was open until 5 p.m. on Christmas Eve, she said.
Most local governments also include the day after Thanksgiving as a paid holiday, and some reported giving workers a half-day off on Good Friday on Easter weekend. State offices are also closed today, and were also shut down on Dec. 24.
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