Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Budget Personnel topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Mayor Nichols announces hiring freeze as city begins 2027 personnel budget work
Summary
Mayor Nichols told the Personnel Committee he sent department budget memos and announced a hiring freeze for the remainder of the year for all positions except police and fire union personnel, saying budgets are due from departments by the end of the month and compilation will begin in September.
Mayor Nichols told the City of Manitowoc Personnel Committee that department budgets for 2027 are due by the end of the month and that staff will begin compiling them in September. He asked committee members to raise any personnel requests now so they can be considered during the budget process.
"I did send my budget memo...so if there's anything you wanna know or anything you would like to see added in it, now would be a great time to share that information with me," Nichols said.
Nichols said the city is not currently planning to add positions to the 2027 budget and has implemented a hiring freeze for the remainder of the year, with an explicit exception for police and fire union positions. "I did implement a hiring freeze for the remainder of this year, for all positions other than police and fire, union personnel," he said. He added that the freeze could be revisited if necessary but that the city will budget positions for 2027 as appropriate.
The mayor explained the city often uses fund balance (savings) to offset tax increases and noted prior years’ savings have been a source for equity adjustments or midyear changes. Committee members asked for follow‑up information on compensation benchmarking and what percentage of premiums other municipalities require employees to pay when staff return specific comparisons in September.
