WHITEFISH – Officials with the city of Whitefish say four city employees have been laid off and all other city workers will get a one-day furlough before the end of the fiscal year as part of a plan to save money.
Officials have also imposed a hiring freeze and stopped all out-of-state travel and training.
City Manager Chuck Stearns says a decline in planning and building permit and fee revenue, property-tax protests and delinquencies, and payment of a nearly $400,000 lawsuit have caused financial problems.
The city late last year lost a lawsuit concerning a disagreement over construction on steep slopes when the Montana Supreme Court upheld a Flathead District Court ruling.