The city of Benton Harbor is implementing a hiring freeze while seeking ways to increase revenue as it experiences a cash crunch.
Speaking to the city Communications and Public Relations Committee this week, City Manager Alex Little said with the current “dire financial position,” he’s seeking to borrow $1 million with the help of the state by July 2.
“We are not a AAA-rated candidate for borrowing as far as credit is concerned,” Little said. “They are working with us to try and help do this and we have to help ourselves by doing as best we can to meet their requirements.”
Little said the state wants savings and increased revenue. Therefore, he says for the time being, no jobs are being posted and unfilled jobs will remain that way. He also said the city is likely to implement a travel freeze.
As for revenue, Little said part of the plan is to begin paid parking downtown. This will result in visitors to nearby businesses to contribute to the city’s turnaround.
“The lots that are directly associated with the marijuana businesses, for example, are expected to be relatively short term and we would expect the pricing associated with that to be a flat amount for half hour.”
Little said the paid parking program will necessitate the hiring of some seasonal parking attendants, but the revenue generated by parking will outstrip that cost. He did not provide additional details on the program’s rollout.
Little said the city’s financial woes go back as far as 2015, when the city utility fund started running a deficit of as much as $2 million and was being propped up by the general fund. Now that federal COVID money has run out, he says all of that has caught up with the city.
