Montgomery County (Map, News) - County Executive Ike Leggett has frozen hiring for county jobs in his latest move to cut costs, but just how many positions will be frozen and how much money will be saved is up for debate.

Montgomery County is facing a $401 million projected budget gap for the fiscal year that begins next July. Last month, Leggett proposed reducing current spending by $23.6 million through cuts including the elimination of some bus routes, reducing the size of this winter's police recruit class and taking a fire truck out of service. The hiring freeze took effect Friday, but he pledged to exempt public safety and essential personnel.

Gino Renne, president of the Municipal and County Government Employees Organization, the union that represents 5,200 of Montgomery's roughly 10,000 county employees, said he backed the freeze after a Thursday conversation in which Human Resources Director Joe Adler told him there were 66 vacancies.

County spokesman Patrick Lacefield said Friday there were actually about 1,000 vacancies.

Renne said support came, in part, because he believed there were 66 vacancies.

"If it's 1,000 than obviously I would be more concerned," Renne said.

Adler confirmed he had told the union president there were only 66 vacancies. He said the discrepancy arose because his department had only been actively recruiting for 66 of the 1,000 positions.

"No one is giving out bad numbers; they just depend on whose perspective it is," Adler said.

The list of vacant positions available Friday included no descriptions, but Adler said the posts include administrative positions, librarians, youth-service managers, an equal employment opportunity investigator and an assistant county attorney.

Council Member Marilyn Praisner said the freeze should make it more difficult to hire people, but even that is not guaranteed.

"When you have a freeze it means people have to come in and go through a higher hurdle of justification before a position can be filled," Praisner said. "How much is saved depends on how rigorously you review those positions."

kmiller@dcexaminer.com