Balanced Tucson budget would mean job cuts, tax increases

Paul Cunningham

Tucson City Council member, Ward 2

Michael Ortega

Tucson city manager

If the Tucson City Council approves the city manager’s proposed $1.37 billion budget for next fiscal year, it would be the first time since 2009 that the city would have a structurally balanced operations budget.

The spending plan presented by City Manager Michael Ortega is a $3 million increase from this year.

The draft budget for the fiscal year beginning July 1 includes $963 million in operating expenses, $138 million in debt payments and $270 million in construction projects.

Cuts have come from a hiring freeze followed by eliminating vacant jobs, plus buyouts and reorganizations. After those changes, the city workforce is down 236 positions.

The city’s planned spending on personnel is down about $12.7 million, said CFO Joyce Garland. No pay raises are recommended, but the city will pay higher pension system contributions.

Ortega is recommending a small property tax rate increase to help balance the budget. For the average $150,000 home, the increase will cost about 33 cents a year.

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The budget also includes a new $2 bed-tax surcharge and a half-percent increase in the utility tax, with another possible half-percent increase the following year.

Council Member Paul Cunningham cautioned more discussion is needed about the bed tax, because the city doesn’t want to put Tucson hotels at a competitive disadvantage versus hotels in the county or surrounding towns.

Here are some other ways budget cuts could affect you:

• Police — There would be fewer officers overall, but a reorganization effort will put more officers on the streets and in your neighborhood.
• Fire — This department is restructuring too, but Ortega said it’s unlikely call-response times to 911 will be affected.
• Zoo — It would be more expensive to go to the Reid Park Zoo. Admission tickets would go up by $1.50.
• Transit — It would cost more to ride the bus.

Bus fares would increase by 25 cents over two years. You wouldn’t be able to ride the streetcar until 2 a.m. bar closing time.

Streetcar operating hours would end at 10 p.m. Thursdays and midnight Fridays and Saturdays based on low ridership.

• Utility bills — Water rates and recycling fees would increase.

The council will continue to examine the draft budget at its May 3 and May 17 meetings, which will include public hearings.

The tentative approval of the budget is planned for May 17, with an additional public hearing and final vote on June 7.

After a breather this summer, Ortega said, he and his team must get to work on the next fiscal year’s budget, which has a projected $7.8 million deficit, and on a new goal to address aging city infrastructure and deferred maintenance needs.