Local families bracing for furloughs

YORKTOWN, Va. (WAVY) - Even though the Pentagon delayed furlough notices by two weeks, local civilian workers and their families are still bracing for the worst.

Some, like Yorktown's Allan Knox who works at Langley, already have smaller paychecks.

"I've been in the military for 20 years," Knox said. "I've been a civilian for almost eight years and after a while, you get a sense that no matter what happens, that light at the end of the tunnel is the train and not the end of the tunnel."

Knox is one of thousands of civilians in Hampton Roads expecting to get a letter from the government ordering him to take furlough days.

"As long as there is going to be a furlough in Department of Defense, I will be getting a letter," Knox said.

The Pentagon warned the mandatory, across-the-board cuts could cause civilian employees to have to take as many as 22 furlough days before September.

"For me, it will be about a $8,900 loss in pay," Knox said.

And because of that, family luxuries are the first to go.

"Beth and I are getting ready to celebrate our 20th wedding anniversary," Knox said. "We've been planning a cruise. That's been the one thing we said we would do. That's out the window. Gone. No question."

The Hampton Roads Planning District Commission estimates 40,000 civilians in Hampton Roads will get notices. The furlough will force workers to have a four day week, taking away 20 percent of their pay.

The furloughs were scheduled to start at the end of April and last until September.