FY 2012 Recommended Budget Document

FY 2012 Budget Informational Brochure

Quick Facts:  Strategies and Options for Balancing the FY 2012 Budget

• The Strategies and Options for Balancing the FY 2012 Budget report dated January 11, 2011 was developed through a management-labor collaborative process held during November/December to develop consensus recommendations for closing the FY 2012 budget gap which is estimated to be $55 million
• 363 positions are proposed for elimination in FY 2012; this is in addition to the 614 position that have already been eliminated since FY 2008 bringing total staff reductions to 977 positions
• The positions proposed for elimination will be accomplished through a combination of retirements, attrition, and layoffs
• Some examples of service reductions that residents can expect based on these position cuts include: transit service reductions, closure of additional recreational centers, impact to police and fire response times, reduced code enforcement for nuisance properties, reduced prosecution of cases, and longer wait times at city court
• $37.8 million in expenditure reductions are proposed for FY 2012; this is in addition to $64 million in expenditure reductions made since FY 2008 bringing total reductions to $101 million
• 9 days of employee furlough are proposed again in FY 2012 bringing the cumulative savings to $31 million since FY 2010
• Mayor and Council took action in December to cap public safety cuts at 7.5% for Police and 6.7% for Fire in order to limit the impact to these critical services
• Across the board reductions of approximately 15% to all other departments contribute to the $37.8 million in expenditure reductions
• The overall outside agency budget is proposed for an additional 20% cut, bringing the total reduction since 2008 to over 50% (from $14 million to $7 million); the City is under contractual obligation to fund specific outside agencies such as Pima Animal Control, Business Improvement District, and MTCVB
• For mass transit, various fare increase and service cut options are proposed to achieve a savings ranging from $5.2 to $6.8 million
• New revenues of $17.3 million are proposed to support reduced cuts in public safety and to help eliminate the structural (ongoing) deficit

On this edition of One On One, City Manager Mike Letcher discusses voter rejection of Proposition 400 and the budget challenges that now lie ahead.

Total time: 15 min.