Top Portland official orders citywide hiring freeze amid ‘significant budget challenge’

Portland’s top bureaucrat on Wednesday ordered a temporary hiring freeze citywide, citing a municipal cash crunch.

City Administrator Michael Jordan told senior city staff in an email that the pause in hiring will begin Oct. 1. He said it would exclude “critical safety positions” within police, fire and 911 because hiring delays in those areas “would lead to higher costs.”

He also directed bureaus to restrict discretionary overtime spending “outside of 24/7 public safety operations” as well as pump the brakes on job reclassifications.

The announcement comes less than two hours after The Oregonian/OregonLive reported that city budget officials are projecting at least a $16 million deficit to Portland’s general fund only months after city leaders adopted this fiscal year’s budget .