PHX Reporter

Cities in Arizona are making changes to reduce budgets during the COVID-19 crisis.

Due to stay-at-home orders and temporary closures of non-essential businesses, residents are spending less at restaurants and stores.

This covers everything from community trash pick-up, to libraries, police officer salaries and street repairs.

This amounts to less sales tax needed to fund day-to-day operations in the cities. More than 30% of Phoenix’s revenue comes from spending in tourism, entertainment and retail sales. In the upcoming fiscal year starting July 1, the city of Phoenix anticipates a $26 million deficit.

Phoenix City Manager Ed Zuercher ordered a freeze on hiring and non-essential spending. This is projected to save approximately $13 million.

The remaining balance will be spread out in various ways. Zuercher wrote that it will "not reduce direct services to the public or city employees,” according to AZCentral. He also wrote in the memo a suggestion to the city’s departments to reduce spending by 25%. This may be necessary if more cuts are required in the future.

One measure he is proposing is to transfer $6.8 million of previously unallocated funds from the city land fund to the general fund. He also halted a plan to transfer $4 million to the city’s rainy day fund. A planned $2.2 million expenditure for replacing the city’s vehicles. A $1.1 million payment to the city’s public safety pension stabilization fund is also being deferred.

In all, this amounts to $27 million in savings, which gives Phoenix an additional $1 million to cover the anticipated deficit.

One of the biggest changes to the budget is the $400,000 to launch the Office of Accountability and the civilian review board. This is much less than the projected $3 million that it was expected to cost. 

"We want to maintain the path to get it going but at the same time being conscious of what's happening in the world," Cit Councilman Carlos Garcia said, according to AZCentral.