2010 Phoenix Budget for Community Review» 2010 Phoenix Budget
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Budget for Community Review - Spanish » Emergency Food Tax
Allocation Plan » Emergency Food
Tax Allocation Plan - Spanish Due to decreasing revenues, Phoenix proposes cuts of $140 million and elimination of nearly 1,400 positions
The city budget is comprised of three separate categories - enterprise funds; federal funds and other restricted money; and the General Fund. This report will focus primarily on the General Fund because it finances most basic services, including police, fire, libraries, parks, streets, senior centers and many others. The total General Fund deficit for the remainder of the current fiscal year and through June 2011 is $241.4 million. After identifying a combination of one-time financial transactions and other efficiencies, the amount of program and service cuts necessary has been reduced to $139.2 million, which includes 1,310 positions. An additional 69 positions are also proposed for elimination from special revenue and enterprise-funded departments, as well as from several department consolidations. The proposed cuts in this year's budget are extremely
difficult and the impact felt by residents will be significant.
For the first time, it's necessary to recommend cuts to filled police
officer and firefighter positions. The deficit is simply too large
to avoid cuts to public safety departments. However, public safety
remains a top priority so cuts to these departments are among the
lowest, ranging from 11 to 14.1 percent. All other city departments
are facing cuts from 15 to more than 30 percent. On page
3 The city has already taken a number of steps to reduce the $241.4 million deficit. One-time financial transactions, including debt-restructuring and lease-purchase financing, total $90.9 million. For the second year in a row, executives and middle managers will forego raises and have committed to five voluntary furlough days, which will save another $1.3 million. Also, the city manager has created an Innovation and Efficiency Task Force that has been charged with finding an additional $10 million in savings. In addition to the General Fund, other city funds
also are experiencing significant declines. This report also outlines
cuts for Development Services, Convention Center and Transit. In
Solid Waste, reductions are proposed to avoid a monthly service
fee increase. Details on these proposed reductions can be found
beginning on page 13 There are several additions to the budget included
in this report due to legal requirements, new capital facilities
and projects paid for by federal stimulus dollars. A listing of
these items can be found starting on page
15 State Revenue Sharing Critical It's important to note that the proposed budget assumes no changes to the state-shared revenue formula. Arizona voters approved the revenue sharing measure four times from 1942 through 1972. The process allows for a single entity - the state - to collect taxes and save administrative costs, while returning a portion of the revenues to cities and towns based on their populations. Currently, the payments from the state, which have been on the decline because of the struggling economy, are the city's second largest revenue source and make up about one-third of the General Fund. If the State Legislature reduces the funding by changing the formula now used to distribute the money, the impact to the community would be severe. A reduction in state funding would lead to deeper cuts in police, fire, parks, library and senior services. How You Can Help In March, the 2010 Census will begin. The U.S. Constitution requires a count of everyone living in the United States every 10 years. While participating in the census is required by law, filling out the brief, 10-question census form also helps bring needed money to our community. In Phoenix, each person counted means $400 for critical services we all depend on. It's fast, easy and confidential. Another way you can help is to volunteer to help with city programs and services in our community. From helping paint over graffiti and cleaning up neighborhoods to adopting a park or helping with sports and recreation activities, there are any number of ways you can help. For a list of volunteer opportunities, visit phoenix.gov/volunteer. City and state-shared sales taxes make up about one-half of the General Fund budget. Sales taxes on the merchandise you buy go into the city's General Fund. One way you can help improve the city's current budget is by shopping at malls and stores and eating in restaurants that are in Phoenix. When you shop in other communities, the taxes go to the general funds of those cities. So, shop Phoenix whenever you can.
City of Phoenix
Last modified on 07/20/2011 15:31:26 |
As the recession gripping our nation goes on, Phoenix continues
to experience unprecedented declines in revenue. For the third straight
year, the city is faced with making difficult cuts to bring its
budget into balance. In fact, since 2002-03, the city has made program
and service cuts of more than $360 million from our General Fund
budget. | Related Links | ||
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