The City of Butler could institute a hiring freeze in the near future.
City Councilman Mike Walter, Director of Accounts and Finance, proposed the idea to council during a meeting Tuesday night.
“Due to the city’s financial thing, I’d like to propose that we do a hiring freeze- except for the upcoming city council position- for an undetermined period of time,” Walter said. “Once we get a handle on our money, we can go and do all this kind of stuff, but until then we need to put the brakes on.”
Walter proposed that the move be made after the hiring of the replacement for Councilman Rick Schontz, who is stepping down at the end of the month. This would include halting the ongoing process to hire a new fire chief. Fire chief responsibilities are currently spread between firefighters on duty and Director of Public Safety Councilwoman Kathy Kline, according to city officials.
Mayor Tom Donaldson was concerned how the freeze could impact the city’s police department, which has had another officer retire taking the number currently on the force down to 20.
“We’ve had some staffing issues with guys on vacation and there’s been some problems trying to get things covered,” Donaldson explained.
The city is expected to hold another special meeting concerning the city’s finances in August.
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