Residents gathered at an April 11 District 3 Budget Hearing to provide input on the Fiscal Year 2024-25 Trial Budget (photo by Kathryn M. Miller).
At the April 11 Council District 3 budget hearing, a packed room of residents broke down their take on the Fiscal Year 2024-25 Trial Budget. Major priorities expressed were funding to support those experiencing homelessness – particularly the city’s older adult population – increasing funding for the city’s overtaxed Fire Department in order to bring down response times, a focus on public safety and traffic issues – with multiple calls for a traffic signal at Cave Creek Road and Desert Cove Avenue – and prioritizing funding for historic preservation, libraries, Complete Streets, heat relief response teams and promoting volunteer opportunities within the city.
These issues are just a few in a long laundry list of requests and concerns being expressed by residents, but as one attendee put it, many of the urgent needs facing the city can be addressed if there is a will to be creative and work collaboratively.
The meeting was one of 11 public meetings held in April to allow the opportunity for residents to weigh in on the 2024-25 Trial Budget, which includes a one-time projected surplus of $80 million. The city manager is recommending that the surplus be set aside in reserve to help balance the FY 2025-26 General Fund budget and offset projected deficits for that year as well as FY 2026-27. The city says that these projected deficits are due to the state’s actions to reduce the tax base (SB 1131 eliminates residential rental sales tax and SB1828 lowers the individual income tax rate to the current “flat tax,” resulting in less than estimated state shared income tax revenues).
City Manager Jeff Barton will present a proposed 2024-25 budget at the May 7 Phoenix City Council Policy Meeting, and the Council will vote on the budget at the May 21 policy meeting. The final budget will be adopted at a June 12 formal meeting. Residents can still weigh in on what they see as funding priorities prior to the May 7 meeting by sending questions and comments to budget.research@phoenix.gov or by calling 602-262-4800 or contacting their respective councilperson.
To read the 2024-25 Trial Budget and find other budget-related information and tools, visit www.phoenix.gov/budget.
