Mayor Stewart Enacts Immediate Hiring and Spending Freeze
By Robin Vinci | Editor at March 31, 2024 | 6:15 pm | Print
Mayor Erin E. Stewart issued a memorandum to all city department heads, including the Board of Education, ordering an immediate freeze of hiring and discretionary spending on Monday.
Last week the City Journal announced that the budget numbers looked grim and the Mayor was looking to take action.
In announcing the freezes, Mayor Stewart cited a likely 5 percent reduction in municipal aid from the state; the measures are effective immediately and extend until June 30th.
Under the directive, no new hires will be allowed unless they are currently in the civil service process or critical to the health and safety of the city, all non-essential overtime must cease, and all purchase orders will be closely monitored by both the Finance Department and Mayor’s Office. Mayor Stewart is requesting that no new purchases be submitted unless it would create a work stoppage.
Mayor Stewart told the City Journal last week that if the state aid gets cut, the money will come from the rainy day fund of about $14 million.
“We can handle now what is happening and plan for the future, but eventually we will have to tap into that as our resources from the state dry up,” Stewart added.
The memorandum was issued as Mayor Stewart prepares her budget proposal, which will be presented to the Common Council on Wednesday, April 13th.
On March 8th, the Board of Finance and Taxation presented a $245.91 million budget proposal to Mayor Stewart. The budget represents an 8.6 percent increase over the current budget and would require a tax rate of 60.77 mills to implement. Since then, Mayor Stewart has been meeting weekly with the city Finance Department to look for ways to reduce the budget.
“Tough decisions will have to be made in order to craft a budget proposal that our residents can afford,” said Mayor Stewart. “While we have made immense progress over the last three years to improve our financial footing, we are beginning to feel the effects of the painful cuts at the state level. The harsh reality is that we must spend only what we bring in. This means that we will look at all areas of city government for spending reductions.”
Among the major increases in the 2016-17 fiscal year are:
- Debt service payments increasing $14.3 million
- Employee medical insurance increasing $1.87 million
- Pension contributions increasing $1.15 million
Stewart told the City Journal she is about half way between the proposed 60.77 and the present mill rate of 49 in her budget, but more needs to be done.
“A tax increase is on the table. The situation at the state does not make it easy for towns,” said Stewart last week. “We are going to lose $4.5 million on car taxes. I have to make up that money somewhere.”
