Mayor Brandon Johnson on Monday issued a hiring freeze on city government positions as his administration faces a nearly $1 billion budget shortfall next year.
A statement sent out by his budget office said “Effective today, we are enacting a series of budgetary restrictions, including a citywide hiring freeze, and stringent limitations on non-essential travel and overtime expenditures outside of public safety operations.” The statement did not say how many vacant positions or how much savings that amounts to.
It was not clear from Monday’s statement whether rank-and-file Police Department and Fire Department positions would be affected. Representatives from Johnson’s office did not immediately provide further details.
The move comes as Johnson prepares for his second budget plan that he previewed last month as one that will entail “sacrifices” to close the fiscal shortfall, along with a new projection of a $223 million budget gap at the end of the current year. But his administration will need to come up with more solutions to raise revenue or cut costs in order to plug in the hole.
Johnson’s budget team has not publicly elaborated on what those sacrifices could entail — including whether raising property taxes is on the table. Monday’s memo will likely be the first of many belt-tightening moves to close the gap. Budget Director Annette Guzman has said departments will also be asked to reduce “other discretionary spending” through the end of 2024.
The mayor is expected to recommend a budget to the City Council in October. He will then have until the end of the year to convince at least 26 of 50 aldermen to support the plan or make changes to get the majority he needs.
In 2019, former Mayor Lori Lightfoot also implemented a citywide hiring freeze ahead of her first budget plan that too faced a looming deficit.
