Waynesville and St. Robert officials don't expect a temporary civilian hiring freeze at nearby Fort Leonard Wood to significantly harm the local economy.
The U.S. Army base announced the freeze Tuesday as one of several budget-cutting measures to help the military reduce $530 million in spending.
Fort spokesman Mike Alley said about 3,400 federal civilian employees work at the base, but he was not immediately aware how many were temporary.
The base will have additional information on its budget-cutting plans Thursday, he said.
Despite the cuts, the U.S. Army Installation Management Agency's base support funding is expected to be $5.67 billion this fiscal year, which is up from $4.95 billion.
The cuts are needed for the remaining fiscal year, which runs through September. In addition to the freeze, commanders were releasing most temporary employees as quickly as possible.
Base officials said the shortage is caused primarily by "fact-of-life" costs such as fuel price increases, physical security costs and foreign currency exchange rate differences.
Larry Sexton, who manages Sellers-Sexton Ford in St. Robert, called the cuts a "short-term situation" that wouldn't greatly affect local businesses.
"Anytime you lose jobs at Fort Leonard Wood, it affects the economy. That's the driving force in our area. We would have preferred not to have heard that announcement," Sexton said.
However, he anticipated the fort would continue to grow and benefit the region.
Fort Leonard Wood is among several bases affected.
Other budget-cutting measures announced Tuesday included:
# Spending plans will identify contracts that can be reduced, canceled or deferred until next year.
# Garrisons have been reducing cell phones and pagers, reducing government vehicle usage and deferring as many expenses as possible.
St. Robert City Administrator Norman Herren said he learned of the fort's budget cuts Tuesday from listening to a radio program.
He said he thought the Army was just trying to balance its budget near the fiscal year's end as cities do.
"If there were drastic layoffs, we might see some ramifications, but a hiring freeze takes a while to impact you," Herren said.
Fort Leonard Wood is the Waynesville area's largest employer, said Cecilia Horne, Waynesville-St. Robert Area Chamber of Commerce executive director.
Waynesville City Administrator Bruce Harrill said a new engineering battalion is expected to arrive at the fort this summer, which should help the community.
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