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HANNIBAL, MO. -- As  a part of the Hannibal's new budget, City Manager Jeff LaGarce has called for  a qualified hiring freeze for all city departments.

That means that if a department loses staff due to retirement or other reasons, it would  have to get approval to hire new personnel.

This comes as a result of 400 thousand dollar shortfall in the city's general revenue fund.

That fund is used to pay for operations like city inspectors, police and fire departments and other city staff.

LaGarce says, "400 thousand doesn't sound like a lot on a 27 million dollar budget. But the city's general fund is only 10.6 million . So while the revenue's  were budgeted 11 million last year, they're only 10.6 million this coming year.  That makes it very, very difficult."

LaGarce says that uncontrollable costs like pension, health care and fuel costs also have to be figured into the budget.

Residents will get their chance to respond to the budget plan during a public hearing on June 15th.