MOUNT VERNON, WA (MyBellinghamNow.com) – Mount Vernon has instituted a hiring freeze as it grapples with a multimillion-dollar budget shortfall.

Mayor Pete Donovan made the announcement in an email to city employees on Thursday, April 10.

The freeze impacts all vacant positions paid through the city’s general fund except its police and fire departments. It won’t affect any positions paid through the city’s utility fund.

Donovan estimates the city is facing a nearly $6 million budget deficit, which represents roughly 15% of its operating budget, and calls the current trajectory of city finances “unsustainable.”

“The tough reality that Mount Vernon, and many other local governments, are faced with is that we are unable to afford the rising costs associated with providing the services that our residents expect,” Mayor Donovan said. “Put simply, if we were a restaurant, we would offset our overhead by raising the price of our cheeseburger from $14 to $18 like everyone else. Local governments do not have that flexibility.” 

He says the shortfall stems from rising labor costs and the loss of COVID-19 era ARPA funds, among other factors.

The mayor’s announcement came weeks after Whatcom County lifted a hiring freeze of its own in February.