KC Council may freeze hiring, limit contracts to brace for coronavirus economy
Kansas City may freeze hiring of city personnel in its upcoming budget year for fear of possible revenue declines if the spread of the novel coronavirus continues to take a toll on the U.S. economy.
The City Council Finance, Governance and Public Safety Committee met Wednesday to pass the city’s $1.7 billion annual budget, with most of the committee not physically present and communicating via teleconference. While the budget remained mostly intact, it included several major changes from the proposal introduced last month by Mayor Quinton Lucas and interim City Manager Earnest Rouse.
Significantly, Councilwoman Katheryn Shields, who chairs the committee, outlined a number of changes designed to protect the budget from disaster should the spread of coronavirus, or COVID-19, result in an economic downturn that depletes the city’s tax revenues. That included a hiring freeze, suspension of discretionary funds and a bar on certain contracts unless City Council approves them.
“We want to recognize that we’re probably not going to have all the money we’re appropriating right now to spend through this year,” Shields said, “so the committee sub also includes a section ... that implements certain cost-containing measures.”
Half of the City Council is under self-quarantine after some were possibly exposed to individuals who tested positive for the virus at a conference in Washington last week. The meeting offered a window into the challenge of running a local government during an outbreak. Shields was the only regular member of the committee at City Hall. Lucas, who was also there, appointed himself to the committee on the spot for the purpose of making motions on legislation.
It took nearly an hour for the committee to begin its deliberations in earnest as staffers worked to set up a system where council members could call in and have their voices streamed out for the public to hear.
The full City Council doesn’t have to vote on the budget until next week, but Shields urged members to “advance” the proposal, meaning it would come up at the full council meeting Thursday, a move that upset several council members listening in via teleconference. But Shields argued that the spread of the coronavirus could make operations even more challenging by next week.
Councilman Brandon Ellington, who doesn’t sit on the committee but was listening in because he was sponsoring another proposal, called the idea of voting on the budget a week early “utterly ridiculous.”
“After looking at the issues in the meeting today, I don’t have any confidence that it’s going to go smooth tomorrow,” Ellington said as he caught himself up on the proposed changes to the budget.
Committee members passed a substitute that includes a number of changes from Lucas and Rouse’s original proposal, though the major changes — incluing an extra 10 police officers — remained the same. Even some line items changed from amendments Lucas pledged late last month.
Among the largest changes to the budget was the addition of more than $327,000 for priorities under the umbrella of “tenant advocacy.” Those revisions include two new staff positions dedicated to tenant advocacy and funds to help support employment programs, legal representation for tenants and mediation services for tenant-landlord disputes.
It’s a far cry from the $1.2 million KC Tenants estimated it would cost the city to set up an Office of the Tenant Advocate. The City Council pledged to do so when it passed its first-ever Tenants Bill of Rights in December.
Lucas and KC Tenants have gone round and round over the budget proposal. The group argues Lucas has been fully aware since last fall that setting up such an office would cost more than $1 million.
The amendment also spends $400,000 for Children’s Mercy Hospital, an increase from the $150,000 the mayor’s budget proposal initially suggested. Previously, the hospital has received nearly $650,000.
Lucas also directed Visit KC to spend $200,000 of the money it gets from City Hall on the Film Commission, which supports local filmmakers and offers incentives to bring crews to shoot in Kansas City. Visit KC already faces more than $600,000 in lost revenue because of declines in the hotel-motel sales tax, an issue likely to be exacerbated as conventions planned in Kansas City cancel because of coronavirus.
The budget also cuts sewer rate increases from 6.5% to 6%.
This story was originally published March 18, 2020 at 1:48 PM.
