ATLANTA — Budget cuts have forced thousands of state employees to take unpaid furloughs, but Georgia’s top elected officials have not seen their salaries cut.

That includes the governor, lieutenant governor, speaker of the House and legislators.

However, in departments where employees have been furloughed, department heads — both elected and appointed — seem to be sharing the load. That includes Insurance Commissioner John Oxendine, Agriculture Commissioner Tommy Irvin and Superintendent of Schools Kathy Cox, all elected statewide.

“Everyone in the office, including the commissioner, is taking a one-day-a-month furlough,” Oxendine spokesman Glenn Allen said in an e-mail. “Commissioner Oxendine is still coming to work on his furlough day.”

Irvin has taken four furlough days this budget year, the same as his employees, according to his spokesman. About 400 Department of Education employees each have taken one furlough day, with plans for more, department spokesman Dana Tofig said.

“(The superintendent) will take as many furlough days as she asks her staff to take,” Tofig said.

The secretary of state and attorney general, who also are elected statewide, have not taken a pay cut. Neither have their employees, though both departments have had layoffs.

“We have eliminated five positions,” attorney general spokesman Russ Willard said. “We have restricted travel. We have eliminated capital (spending).”

An attempt to get information from the Department of Labor commissioner’s office Friday was not successful. No state employees, with the exception of teachers, received a cost-of-living raise this year. No raises are expected next year.

The governor and Legislature have not mandated pay cuts, layoffs or furloughs. Instead they’ve told departments to find their own cuts as the state deals with falling revenues in a struggling economy. The cuts have totaled more than $2 billion this fiscal year alone, mostly made up in withdrawals from the state’s reserve accounts and employee furloughs.

Vacant jobs scattered throughout departments have been eliminated, and there have been relatively few layoffs. Some of them were in Macon, where the Secretary of State’s Office cut 25 jobs at the Professional Licensing Boards headquarters.

But state leaders have said deeper cuts may be coming unless the economy turns around quickly. There is talk of furloughing Georgia’s 100,000-plus teachers for as many as six planning days.

The Georgia Department of Human Resources, which includes the Division of Family and Children Services, has furloughed the most employees so far. Some 6,000 DHR employees take at least one unpaid day a month. That includes Commissioner B.J. Walker and other administrative employees, who take two furlough days each month, according to a department spokeswoman.

At the Georgia Department of Transportation, where employee furloughs were recently announced, the commissioner’s job is open after the DOT board fired Gena Evans last month. But the interim commissioner, who also is the department’s chief engineer, plans to join other DOT employees and take one furlough day per month in April, May and June, said a department spokesman.

It’s not yet known whether these furloughs, and others in state government, will continue in the next budget year, which begins July 1.

Asked if the governor has considered cutting his six-figure salary in the coming year, spokesman Bert Brantley said it’s “difficult to contemplate what will be required” with the state Legislature still working on the fiscal 2010 budget.

“Just like agency heads, the governor will manage the Governor’s Office budget based on the appropriation,” Brantley said in an e-mail.

Salaries for many elected officials, including the governor, legislators, judges and district attorneys, are laid out in state code, making them more difficult to change. But there has been some talk of legislators voluntarily returning a portion of their salaries to the state treasury.

That was discussed at the beginning of the legislative session and was generally well-received, said state Rep. Allen Peake, R-Macon.

“I know that I would be more than willing to do that,” said Peake, who owns a string of restaurants.

Legislators already agreed, at the beginning of this legislative session, not to take a scheduled pay raise this year, since state employees didn’t get their annual raise.

Most legislators make about $17,300 a year, plus a per diem of $173 per legislative day during the session. They can also get expenses reimbursed, including a 55 cent-per-mile driving reimbursement.

To contact writer Travis Fain, call 361-2702.