Just hours before the start of the fiscal year, the Tucson City Council voted to approve a $1.7 billion spending cap for next year, further delaying discussion about the reallocation of funds as some have called for the "defunding" of Tucson Police.
Community members have called into council meetings and circulated petitions in recent weeks expressing their desire for the council to divest funds away from Tucson Police and into more community services, part of a national movement in the wake of deaths and killings in police custody, including of 27-year-old Carlos Adrian Ingram-Lopez in Tucson.
The council had delayed the adoption of the tentative budget until the last-minute to seek more input from the community. City officials are also taking into consideration an estimated deficit of $43.8 million by the end of fiscal year 2021-22, which could be greater if the economy does not recover, as a result of the coronavirus.
The council voted 6-1 on Tuesday to adopt a spending cap for the new fiscal year, which started on Wednesday, but can still reallocate funds before a final budget is scheduled to be adopted at end of this month. The current budget includes more than $165 million for police, the largest expenditure in the general fund.
The council's decision on Tuesday came after roughly two dozen members of the community spoke during an open hearing, about half of whom were in favor of keeping or increasing funding for police, while the other half were in favor of moving some funds to other initiatives, such as community outreach and social services.
Councilman Steve Kozachik was the lone dissenting vote on the budget adoption because it included the creation of new jobs despite a city-imposed hiring and raise freeze stemmed by the coronavirus.
