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Home My WebLink About07-08 RESOLUTIONRESOLUTION NO. 07-08 A RESOLUTION TO IMPOSE A HIRING FREEZE FOR ALL EMPLOYEES PAID WITH GENERAL FUND REVENUES WHEREAS, City General Fund tax revenues have declined during 2007 necessitating a curtailed budget and a close examination of all expenditures by the staff and City Council; and WHEREAS, the major portion of the operating budget of the General Fund is for personnel costs; and WHEREAS, the City Council desires to implement a Hiring Freeze for 2008 to examine the necessity of refilling any General Fund employee position that becomes open due to retirement, transfer, termination, or otherwise. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FAYETTEVILLE, ARKANSAS: Section 1: The City Council of the City of Fayetteville, Arkansas hereby adopts a Hiring Freeze for all of 2008 for all General Fund employees to be implemented as follows: A. If an employee leaves a General Fund budgeted position for any reason (retirement, transfer, termination, or otherwise), that position may not be refilled with another employee until and unless the City Council passes a Resolution authorizing the hiring of a replacement employee. B. Seasonal, temporary employee positions (primarily in the Parks Department) may be filled when scheduled (usually in the summer) without a separate Resolution. ```,G�Gcc1Ca •. ^ o, Ft: `fY��, V•cc,'; 'p_ :FAYETTEV;I LE' A I I EST: te,fri'%%%%%G1ON C, �ti� J11111110V`I` PASSED and APPROVED this 3rd day of January, 2008. APPROVED: By: WAra 4. DAN COOD ayor By: S/ht SONDRA E. SMITH, City Cleric/Treasurer AGENDA REQUEST FOR: COUNCIL MEETING OF JANUARY 3, 2008 C X3/68 d -j ag Genera/ �u maple y1t811j FROM: KIT WILLIAMS, CITY ATTORNEY ORDINANCE OR RESOLUTION TITLE AND SUBJECT: A Resolution To Impose A Hiring Freeze For All Employees Paid With General Fund Revenues APPROVED FOR AGENDA: Director of Operations /2i9 0i Date I2 -2o-07 Financial Director Date Mayor II (2( /61.--‘ y ttorney as to form) Date Q2-- 1/ -07 Date RESOLUTION NO. A RESOLUTION TO IMPOSE A HIRING FREEZE FOR ALL EMPLOYEES PAID WITH GENERAL FUND REVENUES WHEREAS, City General Fund tax revenues have declined during 2007 necessitating a curtailed budget and a close examination of all expenditures by the staff and City Council; and WHEREAS, the major portion of the operating budget of the General Fund is for personnel costs; and WHEREAS, the City Council desires to implement a Hiring Freeze for 2008 to examine the necessity of refilling any General Fund employee position that becomes open due to retirement, transfer, termination, or otherwise. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FAYETTEVILLE, ARKANSAS: Section 1: The City Council of the City of Fayetteville, Arkansas hereby adopts a Hiring Freeze for all of 2008 for all General Fund employees to be implemented as follows: A. If an employee leaves a General Fund budgeted position for any reason (retirement, transfer, termination, or otherwise), that position may not be refilled with another employee until and unless the City Council passes a Resolution authorizing the hiring of a replacement employee. B. Seasonal, temporary employee positions (primarily in the Parks Department) may be filled when scheduled (usually in the summer) without a separate Resolution, but then would be subject to the Hiring Freeze if the initially hired temporary employee vacates the position before its normal termination date. PASSED and APPROVED this 3`d day of January, 2008. APPROVED: ATTEST: By: By: DAN COODY, Mayor SONDRA E. SMITH, City Clerk/Treasurer FAYETTEVILLE THE CITY OF FAYETTEVILLE, ARKANSAS KIT WILLIAMS, CITY ATTORNEY DAVID WHITAKER, ASST. CITY ATTORNEY DEPARTMENTAL CORRESPONDENCE LEGAL DEPARTMENT TO: Dan Coody, Mayor City Council CC: Paul Becker, Finance Director Missy Leflar, Human Resources Division Manager FROM: Kit Williams, City Attorney DATE: December 19, 2007 RE• 2008 Hiring Freeze I was instructed by the City Council at the Monday Budget meeting to prepare a Resolution to implement a Hiring Freeze for 2008. Attached is my proposed Resolution for the Hiring Freeze. I am somewhat concerned about whether the City Council has the unilateral power to implement such a hiring freeze. When I researched this issue, I found several Attorney General Opinions (93-268, 93-332, and 2000-319) that opined generally in favor of such a power for the City Council. However, these dealt with Second Class Cities which have different statutory powers than First Class Cities (such as Fayetteville). I could find no definitive Supreme Court cases directly addressing this issue. The most relevant case was a 1941 Supreme Court decision where a city employee challenged his layoff for budgetary reasons. The Arkansas Supreme Court held: "These statutes are not intended to affect or control the power of the city council or the executive officers of the city to abolish offices when they are no longer necessary or for reasons of economy." Satterfield v. Fewel, 202 Ark. 67, 149 S.W. 2d 949, 95 1 (1941). As you see, the Court did not say whether the city council or executive officers held the ultimate authority over hiring and firing of normal employees. I think the Attorney General opinions are probably correct for Second Class Cities. Mayors in Second Class Cities do not have the statutory powers granted to mayors of First Class Cities. A mayor of a First Class City "shall be its chief executive officer ...." A.C.A. §14 43 504(a). (emphasis added) No such statutory power is given to a mayor of a Second Class City. Indeed, the Arkansas Attorney General has opined that "the executory authority of a city of the second class generally resides with the city council ...." Arkansas Attorney General Opinion No. 95-367 quoted in Arkansas Attorney General Opinion No. 2000-319 (emphasis added). In a city of the First Class: "The mayor shall: (1) Supervise the conduct of all officers of the city ... and cause all the violations of duty or other neglect to be properly punished ...." A.0 A. §14-43-504(b). There is no comparable statutory power granted to a mayor of a city of the Second Class. Indeed, statutes require in a second class city that "The mayor shall perform all duties required by the ordinances of the city ...." A C.A. §14-44-108(c) In a city of the First Class, the mayor is statutorily designated as "its chief executive officer" (A.C.A. § 14-43-504) and the "city council shall possess all the legislative powers .... (as well as) the management and control of finances, and of the real and personal property belonging to the (city) ...." A.C.A. § 14-43-502 (emphasis added). This balance of powers between the executive and legislative branches has generally meant that legislature (or city council) determines what employee positions it will fund in the budget while the executive actually hires and fires employees to fill the budgeted positions. The Attorney General evidently believes state statutes empower a city council of a Second Class city with executive powers. However, my reading of the different statutory powers granted a mayor of a city of the First Class empower our mayor with greater executive powers than a mayor of a Second Class city. The Attorney General Opinions also point to A.C.A. §14-52-101 which empower city councils to establish police departments. "The city council shall have the power to establish a city police department, to organize it under the general superintendence of the mayor, and to prescribe its duties and define its powers ...." 2 Only in a city of the First Class does a mayor have additional statutory supervisory power. "In cities of the first class, the duty of the chief of police and other officers of the police department shall be under the direction of the mayor." A.C.A. §14-52-203(a). CONCLUSION In Fayetteville, a city of the First Class, our elected mayor has substantial statutory power as our chief executive officer with supervisory and directory power over officers of the city. The City Council's legislative power gives it the budgetary power to decide whether or not to fund employee positions. However, once such a position is funded in the budget, there is a question whether the City Council has the power to deny the executive branch under the Mayor the right to replace a vacated position with a new employee (without amending the budget to delete funding of that position). I hope that this will not become an issue between the administration and the City Council as I am unsure how the Court would decide this balance of powers issue. We certainly do not need costly litigation. (I could not represent both sides of this issue. Thus, outside counsel would have to be hired which would not be helpful in these tight budget times.) I recommend that the administration not challenge the Hiring Freeze, but instead see how it works for a few months. I believe the City Council will thoughtfully consider allowing the replacement of positions vacated by normal attrition Both staff and the City Council may wish to review the effectiveness of the Hiring Freeze after a few months. 3 1.14.08 Clarice Pearman - Res. 07-08 Page 1 j From: Clarice Pearman To: Williams, Kit Date: 1.14.08 2:55 PM Subject: Res. 07-08 Attachments: 07-08 Gen. Fund Employee Hiring Freeze.pdf CC: Audit; Langehennig, Sherrie; Leflar, Missy Kit: Attached is a copy of the above resolution regarding the hiring freeze passed by City Council, January 3, 2008. Please let me know it there is anything else needed for this item. Have a good day. Thanks. Clarice