IE Business Daily Business news for the Inland Empire.
Riverside’s hiring freeze, implemented last Friday in an attempt to help curb the city’s $7.2 million budget deficit, could be extended beyond the end of next month, a Riverside official said Tuesday.
Officially, the freeze – which also includes a ban on most general fund spending – was to have lasted until June 30, said Phil Pitchford, city spokesman.
However, with a possible $11 million deficit looming for fiscal year 2016-’17, which starts July 1, there’s a chance the freeze could be stretched well beyond that, Pitchford said.
“Right now we’re trying to account for all of our revenues and all of our expenses,” Pitchford said. “Our revenues were down about $400,000 during the third quarter, which is when [City Manager John A. Russo] decided to implement the freeze.”
Tuesday was the first scheduled city council meeting since the hiring freeze was announced. The moratorium, which applies to everything except certain emergency personnel, was not on the agenda but probably would be discussed anyway, Pitchford said.
