By Teri Carnicelli
Phoenix’s Emergency Food Tax, approved by the City Council on Feb. 2, saw many programs and public safety positions restored with the anticipated income. However, three library branches will still be closed, and other neighborhood-supporting programs will be eliminated or drastically reduced.
The mayor and City Council were scheduled to approve the revised budget plan on March 2, so that the plan can take effect on April 5. Normally, the fiscal year would begin July 1; by pushing it forward, the city hopes to see an additional three months in savings under the new, reduced budget.
In addition, the annual Food Tax revenue will be about $50 million. By implementing the tax in April, $62.5 million could be collected over the next 15 months.
But not all neighborhood programs and services are being saved by the Food Tax.
Still under the axe are the Acacia and Century library branches, both serving the North Central community. The Yucca branch, located behind the Chris-Town Spectrum mall, was saved by the anticipated Food Tax income. Library hours at all remaining branches—except Burton Barr—will be reduced by eight hours per week by closing on Fridays.
While senior centers like Sunnyslope no longer will be closed, the Senior Companion Program is being eliminated, as is the Home Delivered Meal Program, which ends in July. This program provides meals and wellness checks to 2,634 frail, homebound elderly and disabled adults.
Community centers that were to close, including Devonshire and the Washington Adult Center, will remain open, but with reduced operating hours. The Sunnyslope Youth Center also was saved, and the city has restored after-school programs at 21 existing sites throughout the city, which include grant-funded nutrition programs. Those sites will be determined after city staff meets with each of the school districts to identify their priorities, and also takes a close look at past enrollment numbers.
Unfortunately, 15 sites will still be eliminated, as will the PAC summer program and funding for the Boys and Girls Club school site-based summer program.
For the first time, the city manager’s office also recommended cuts to police and fire, however, cuts to these departments were among the lowest, ranging from 11 to 14.1 percent. All other city departments were facing cuts from 15 to more than 30 percent.
With the Food Tax income, the city was able to restore 117 sworn and 12 civilian positions for the Police Department, including six Community Action Officers and 20 first-responder patrol officers. The Fire Department saw 62 sworn positions restored, which included three engine companies, one ladder company and one ambulance crew.
City Hall also felt its share of budget cuts. 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.
Since 2002-03, the city has made program and service cuts of more than $360 million from its General Fund budget.
The city budget is comprised of three separate categories: enterprise funds; federal funds and other restricted money; and the General Fund. The General Fund finances most basic services, including police, fire, libraries, parks, streets, senior centers and many others.
It’s important to note that the proposed budget assumes no changes to the state-shared revenue formula. 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.
The state isn’t scheduled to distribute shared revenues until fiscal year 2011, and that money will be based on the revenue collected in fiscal year 2009.
