Tempe City Manager Charlie Meyer and Director of Finance and Technology Ken Jones presented a new budgetary policy to residents during a public forum April 12 at the south Tempe police substation on Hardy Drive.
Among the approximately 25 residents attending the session, the most vocal majority expressed concerns over a variety of issues they said they have with the capital budget plan projected for the next five years.
Meyer tried to ease any such concerns, reassuring the group that Tempe’s budget is stabilizing.
“We’ve been on an absolute roller coaster for the last three years, and we’re not any longer,” he said. “We’re not looking at any big budget deficit for 2011-12,” he said. “We’re looking at pretty much what we expected.”
The capital improvements program, which Jones said the City Council will be asked to formally approve in the near future, was the main topic of the meeting. Officials said tenets of the program already have been “adopted in concept” by the council members.
According to Meyer, the CIP as proposed would allow the current $1.40 property tax for Tempe residents to float over time, allowing the city to collect a consistent amount of secondary property taxes for a list of city projects.
“This is the process for funding the capital program,” Jones said. “This is what will affect you the most.”
The funds that would go toward paying for the CIP would pay for new buildings, maintenance of existing buildings and roads, and a variety of other projects aimed at improving city streets, dams and other facilities.
Meyer said some major challenges face the budget this year, and it would be “irresponsible not to recommend the Capital Improvements Plan to the City Council.”
“(The plan) is essentially taking care of basics,” Meyer said. “The projects are things that need to be done – replacing fire trucks that are in need of replacement, maintaining our roads and the lights in the park.”
The funding, however, is what seemed to concern some residents who attended the meeting, apparently stemming from allowing property taxes to increase or decrease with property values.
Jones said that, in order to pay off the city’s debt and maintain a cushion for future financial predicaments, it’s essential to implement the capital plan that allows the property tax rate to float over time.
“The levy – what we collect from you – is the taxes,” he said. “It’s not the tax rate.”
Lately, the city’s levy has plummeted, Jones said. In order to restore approximately $22.1 million for city improvements, the tax rate would need to float, he said.
“That’s the plan we presented to council,” Meyer said. “For right now, we feel that’s all we can afford.”
Patty Meyer (no relation to the city manager), a south Tempe resident who attended the forum, said she has more confidence in the Capital Improvements Plan after listening to Meyer address the funds, but still doesn’t think it should be implemented in near the future.
“We need to save money,” she said. “It’s really going to hit elderly people and residents with fixed incomes.”
A 71-year-old woman at the meeting said she is willing to pay for capital improvements in order to maintain the quality of the community. She also asked about getting a volunteer force to help clean up local parks and sidewalks.
Other discussion involved reductions in general funds, including future salaries of city employees. Jones replied that it would be “unsustainable to keep increasing pay.”
Community members also questioned the modern streetcar system planned for construction in the Mill Avenue district of downtown Tempe, five or six of residents saying they feel it would be too costly to implement such a system at this time.
Many residents, however, thanked both Charlie Meyer and Jones on their understanding of the topics and willingness to keep residents informed on the budget projects.
John Mulford, another south Tempe resident at the forum, commended the transparency he said Meyer and Jones showed in presenting each topic clearly and addressing community members’ concerns.
Another public forum will be held 6-7:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 19, at City Council chambers in downtown Tempe.
