St. Louis Lifts Hiring Freeze as Earnings Tax Survives Legislative Session

St. Louis Mayor Tishaura Jones lifted the city’s short-lived hiring freeze on Monday following the end of Missouri’s legislative session on Friday.

Jones cited the legislature’s failure to pass any laws that would damage the city’s ability to collect an earnings tax as her reasoning for ending the freeze.

The hiring freeze took effect March 29 as a result of budgetary concerns and a sharp divide between the Mayor’s Office and the Board of Aldermen.

Jones announced the freeze after aldermen overrode her veto of Board Bill 146 — which would undo cost-saving reforms to the firefighter pension system made in 2013. She said the changes could cost the city an initial loss of $10 million a year and only “increase over time,” RFT previously reported.

At the time, her office also cited state legislation that could put the city in financial jeopardy.

“The City implemented a hiring freeze to avoid potential layoffs in the event the state legislature curtails the City’s earning tax or in the event that pending litigation significantly diminishes returns from the earnings tax,” Jones’ administration said in an online statement . “Potential threats to the City’s budget could amount to a loss of over $109M.”

The hiring freeze impacted new, non-essential positions, but it was fairly limited: Only new, non-essential positions that were not submitted to the Department of Personnel prior to March 29 were actually frozen.

“I’m happy to lift the hiring freeze on non-essential employees today,” said Jones. “The City of St. Louis is safer and healthier without the harmful interference of members of our state legislature who do not represent our City or its best interests. Our essential services and workers remain funded by our earnings tax.”

Additionally, the city launched a new hiring website last week that her office says “will make it faster and easier to apply and get hired by the City.”

Still unclear: How recent legal challenges to the earnings tax — including a high-profile lawsuit by the Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner law firm — will affect the city’s financial health and ability to fill new positions.

“The City continues to monitor the ongoing earnings tax litigation and is prepared to implement any decision announced by the court,” Jones’ office added in the release.