Alachua City Commission declares hiring freeze

A hiring freeze will be in effect for the City of Alachua for the next 12 months, the commission approved unanimously on June 23.

To help save money and replenish the city’s depleted reserves, no new employees will be hired for the next year, with the exception of one position: the assistant finance director. Any position that opens up due to a current employee leaving will have to be brought before the commission.

This freeze on new hires is one of several cost-cutting items the commission discussed, but it’s the only one the commission voted on Wednesday.

Commissioners scheduled the workshop after receiving the audit for 2008-2009, which found that the city had spent $1.7 million of restricted funds on city operations.

The audit, prepared by the accounting firm Purvis Gray and Company, concluded, “Due to the lack of unrestricted fund balance and net assets, the City has used restricted resources resulting in certain violations of contracts or agreements. The continued use of restricted resources could potentially lead to further action taken by creditors or others, and leave the City with insufficient funds to operate.”

To prevent dipping any further into the reserves, commissioners also discussed changing the City Hall workweek from five eight-hour days to four 10-hour days, a move that has saved the City of Gainesville more than $100,000 annually. The commission delayed making a decision on the issue and instead directed the staff to do further research on the costs and benefits of such a move.

The commissioners also voted for a rate study on city employee’s salaries, to compare the salaries of Alachua employees with those of employees in similar cities.

And to keep a closer eye on future financial matters, the commission voted for the city staff to prepare monthly financial reports with a balance sheet noting revenues and expenditures.

The City of Alachua Transit System (CATS) has also been discussed as a way to save money but was not brought up at the workshop.