Budget cuts

want to see where we went south.”

Phoenix leaders are at the beginning of the budget-planning process for the next fiscal year. The latest deficit is projected in the city’s fiscal 2015 general-fund budget, which takes effect July 1. Much like a checkbook, the $1.2 billion general fund pays for day-to-day city services, such as police, firefighters and parks.

Steep cuts

Thursday’s budget proposal would eliminate about 350 positions from the city’s roughly 14,000-employee workforce. However, only 150 of those positions are currently filled, and Zuercher said workers would likely be moved to other vacant posts instead of being laid off.

Along with shrinking the workforce, the cuts would eliminate many social-service and recreation programs.

The potential closures include three senior centers that provide hot meals and support services; three swimming pools in low-income neighborhoods; and about two dozen community and recreation centers that offer classes and special events.

Cuts would also reduce public-safety support services, including code enforcement, graffiti cleanup and fire-prevention inspections.

The scope of programs facing the chopping block rankled City Council members, particularly those whose districts include highpoverty, urban areas. Councilwoman Laura Pastor, who represents central and west Phoenix, was nearly speechless as she read through the list of proposed cuts.

“People rely on these programs,” she said. “Everybody is going to have to come to a compromise. That’s the only way we’re going to get there.”

Residents will have a chance to weigh in on the budget at 17 public hearings next month, and Zuercher and council members will use that feedback to shape the fi-

Eliminate the fire prevention section of the Fire Department’s general inspection program, which would reduce fire code inspections: 19 positions; $1.94 million savings. nal spending plan. Council members will vote on the final budget in late May.

Zuercher, who took the city’s helm in October, said part of the shortfall can be blamed on rosy revenue projections. Phoenix forecast its revenues would increase by 7 percent during the current fiscal year, which started July 1. Because returns have been at least $25 million less, the city manager’s planning for only a 3 percent increase next year.

Tax revenues from construction and retail sales continue to grow, but the pace of the economic recovery has been slower than expected, with job growth in Phoenix trailing the national average. It’s the second year in a row Phoenix’s tax collections have fallen far below projections.

And while it might sound counterintuitive that Phoenix faces red ink even though it’s collecting more revenue every year, officials said the money isn’t coming in as fast as expenses are growing.

Mandatory expenses are projected to increase by $48 million because of rising personnel costs, equipment replacement, building maintenance needed to continue basic operations, and other fixed costs. About $18 million of that goes toward the city’s ballooning pension costs.

“Nobody is more disappointed than me,” Zuercher said. “But myjob is to balance the budget. So it’s really important that we hear from the public about the impact of these service cuts and any alternatives that they might propose.”

Employee pay cut?

The biggest unknown is the financial impact of the city’s new contracts with its seven employee unions, which are being debated behind closed doors. Zuercher’s budget assumes no changes from the city’s current contracts, which included about $18.3 million for pay raises and longevity bonuses this fiscal year.

Phoenix has asked the unions to take a 3 percent across-the-board pay and benefits cut, which would save the city $30 million next year, Zuercher said. That concession or a change in the amount budgeted for raises and bonuses could help the city reduce the red ink without cutting services.

The city already anticipates saving $9 million through efficiency maneuvers, which include delaying vehicle purchases.

But employee union leaders said members will not agree to such a cut, noting that workers voluntarily took a 3.2 percent pay and benefits cut in 2010. Half of that has been restored.

“It happens every two years when the city is in negotiations and they say, ‘We’re broke,’ ” said Sean Mattson, president of the Phoenix Police Sergeants and Lieutenants Association. “It’s Lucy and the football and we’re Charlie Brown. The story is getting old.”

Some council members said the dire projections are misleading, suggesting the budget crisis could have been averted if the city didn’t give employees pay raises or spend money on projects they consider frivolous, including a $500,000 gateway arch to the Melrose District and $650,000 for a garbage study.

“We have seen these doomand-gloom budgets before with the food-tax discussion,” Councilman Sal DiCiccio said. “I believe this is easily resolvable with little impact on the public or employees. Unfortunately, this is what we’ve come to expect.”