PRYOR CREEK, Okla. — The Pryor Creek City Council spent all of the night of Sept. 23 discussing possible budget cuts for the 2024-25 fiscal year, as well as a potential voluntary severance for city workers.
At 12:02 a.m. Tuesday, the council voted 5-2 to pass the budget as amended during the meeting.
- Previous coverage >>> Pryor Police Chief concerned about city budget shortfall
Pryor's budget is already a month past an original deadline so councilors are discussing each and every expected expense Monday night to try to bring expenses down from almost $9 million to $8.2 million.
The only item on the agenda besides the budget is Mayor Zac Doyle's proposal for giving $20,000 in a voluntary severance. This would apply to one employee in each of the city's six departments who voluntarily leaves their job by Oct. 1. The open posts would not be filled.
The severance vote was switched Monday night to be decided on after the budget vote instead of before.
As of 12:15 a.m. Tuesday, a council decision on the severance item had not been voted on yet.
Paul Stevens, who serves on the Pryor Library Board, told 2 News Monday evening he worries for how these cuts affect providing for the community.
"We'll lose one member if one of our full-times (leaves)," Stevens said. "That puts us down to five employees. We'll have to reduce hours, all that. It's not good. It's just not good."
"We are top heavy in the payroll," Mayor Doyle said during the meeting. "And so, rather than come in and say we're going to lay everyone off, we're gonna do layoffs - we're going to leave it to the employee. It's voluntary."
Doyle added that if anyone who voluntarily leaves their post for the severance but wants to be hired back in the future, they'd have to be entry-level.
There was also concern that first responders will have much less work with. Chief Jeremy Cantrell told the council the proposed cuts to the police department will strain his small staff with overtime.
Click here for our original reporting on this issue.
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