KSHB 41 News reporter Braden Bates covers parts of Jackson County, Missouri, including Lee's Summit. Send Braden a story idea by e-mail.
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Lee's Summit city leaders are proposing a hiring freeze for all city departments except those in public safety as the city faces financial pressures heading into the 2027 fiscal year.
City Manager Mark Dunning said fire and police raises, which were negotiated during fiscal year 2026, and the Jackson County residential tax plan that's coming with uncertainty, have made this year's budget particularly difficult to assemble.
"Usually we're seeing continued growth year after year in our budgets," Dunning said.
Dunning compared this year's budget process to those of the recession and COVID-19.
The proposed freeze means staff and departments outside of public safety would feel the most impact as the city tightens its financial belt.
"This level of uncertainty is all around us, so we're being very cautious and in a way, conservative in trying to put together our budget this year," Dunning said.
The emphasis on public safety is a part of the city's overall goal. The city's not freezing hiring for police or fire.
As proposed, the budget factors also improve the pay disparity between dispatchers in police and fire departments.
The current proposal will not impact raises for current employees.
Ron Beck, who was at the VFW almost every day, said he believes the city is doing its best with the resources it has.
"You know, the city, I think, [does] the best they can within their budget. And as long as there's good open communication between the city and businesses, I think that there's an opportunity for us to work together," Beck said.
Longtime Lee's Summit resident Marina Ellis said she worries about what a hiring freeze could mean if city employees leave their positions.
"I'm kind of scared because if they're not going to hire anybody and everybody's leaving, maybe we're not going to have people out there helping us," Ellis said.
Dunning said any budget cuts shouldn't have large-scale impacts on day-to-day work completed by the city.
The budget proposal process has gone through several phases as the city looks to complete a balanced budget to present to the city council.
In a Budget and Finance Committee meeting on April 20, Dunning presented a scenario where the city would experience a gap of $13.4 million with around 72 staff cuts.
After feedback from the committee, Dunning and his team reworked plans on getting that gap down to around $400,000 with no cuts, but also would freeze hiring.
That's the plan the committee encouraged Dunning and his team to go with.
The 2027 budget remains in the proposal stage with plans for a balanced budget to be presented to the Budget and Finance Committee in the coming weeks.
That will then lead to a public hearing before the city council and first reading.
The budget will be approved prior to July.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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