Baltimore has frozen spending for the city’s police, fire and sheriff’s departments, as well as several other city agencies that are expected to finish the fiscal year in the red, in a move city officials said was necessary to scrutinize costs amid an uncertain economy.

The freeze, which was announced to the City Council during a hearing Tuesday, was put in place two weeks ago as Mayor Brandon Scott prepared to roll out plans for his $4.6 billion budget for the coming fiscal year. That plan, which includes provisions to fill an $85 million deficit, will likely be subject to changes, city officials warned, due to actions by President Donald Trump.

Agencies subjected to the freeze have seen personnel actions, such as pay raises, put on pause. Discretionary overtime spending and contracts headed to the city’s spending board for approval now face additional review by City Administrator Faith Leach and her staff. Spending on city credit cards has been suspended for agency employees other than directors and their direct reports.

Agencies subjected to the freeze include the Police Department and the Fire Department, which are currently projected to finish the fiscal year in June with deficits of $25.2 million and $35.8 million, respectively. Recreation and Parks, which is projected to end the year $7.6 million in the red, has also been subjected to the freeze, as has the Sheriff’s Office, which expects to be $1.7 million over budget.

Also affected are the Department of Finance, the Liquor License Board, the Office of Information Technology, the Office of Homeless Services, the Office of Arts and Culture and the Environmental Control Board.

Baltimore budget officials currently expect to end the budget year in June about $8 million over budget.

Leach said the spending freeze is the first of its kind during the Scott administration. It was necessitated by the “economic climate,” she said.

“There’s just a lot of uncertainty now when it comes to the current economic climate and the things that we’re seeing at the federal level, and so given what we are projecting from city agencies we thought it would be fiscally responsible,” Leach said.

Baltimore budget officials are bracing for the impact of moves at the federal level, including cuts to grant funding and reductions to the federal workforce. Baltimore receives about $200 million in federal grant funding each year, which pays for health, development and education programs as well as homelessness services. Most of that funding remains in place, but could be cut.

The city also relies heavily on income tax revenue from the city’s workforce, which includes at least 12,000 federal employees. The federal workforce has been subject to cuts by Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency, which has slashed jobs across numerous federal agencies and threatened more to come.

Scott’s budget proposal, which must still be approved by the City Council, does not yet account for any reduction in income tax revenue as a result of mass layoffs, but city officials expect to adjust the plan in May when the proposal heads to the Board of Estimates for consideration.

City officials said last week that an estimated $3 million to $5 million in income tax revenue could be in jeopardy.

Economic forces could further subject the city to other unforeseen costs. Tariffs, instituted by Trump on U.S. imports, are poised to increase the costs of city purchases, such as vehicles and building materials.

From June to December, the first half of the budget year, overtime costs were a primary driver for several departments that are currently over budget. The city’s Fire Department, which includes EMS, has exceeded its budget by $32.9 million for overtime and $10 million for contracted EMS services, needed because of a shortage in EMS employees. The Police Department’s $25.2 million overage was almost entirely made up of overtime, Budget Director Laura Larsen said.

Over-budget spending by the Sheriff’s Office was also driven by overtime costs and also “upfitting” of vehicles added to the office’s fleet, Larsen said. Overtime payments by the office were the subject of a report from Inspector General Isabel Mercedes Cumming in February, which found that Sheriff Sam Cogen directed his staff to use a code on electronic timesheets to boost their wages, triggering an improper calculation that cost the city more than $2.2 million.

Councilman Paris Gray questioned what the administration was doing to prevent future overages by the Sheriff’s Office. Leach said city finance officials caught the misappropriation within 90 days and put a freeze on the type of overtime pay employees of the office were filing. Overtime for all over-budget agencies is being monitored closely, Leach said.

Councilwoman Danielle McCray, chair of the Budget and Appropriations Committee, questioned why “upfitting” costs for city vehicles were over budget. Upfitting is done by city crews after new vehicles arrive to outfit them for use by city employees. Law enforcement vehicles are outfitted with specific equipment inside while trash trucks are branded with city logos.

Larsen said the city is analyzing the costs to determine if they are due to the long spans between the time vehicles are ordered and when they arrive, or if there are larger more systemic maintenance costs building.