City of Yukon institutes hiring freeze and across the board cuts

Yukon, Oklahoma (KOKH)--The City Yukon is having to tighten its belt due to the Coronavirus outbreak.

At the city council meeting on Tuesday the council approved a reduction in the budget by just over 604 thousand dollars, an across the board 2% cut to all departments and a hiring freeze is now in effect.

The council acted on the recommendation of City Treasurer Philip Merry, in a memo he sent to the council just before the meeting.

In the memo Merry says the city is implementing several measures in the wake of the economic downturn due to COVID-19.

The hope is that these cuts will allow them to stave off eliminating people or sacrificing vital services.