City council will tackle budget deficit, consider pot ordinance

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The Maricopa City Council will meet Tuesday night, Dec. 21, to consider cutting more than $1 million from the general budget.

In total, council will look at more than 60 possible cuts, including the elimination of the 2011 Salsa Festival and the city’s fishing derby, as well as freezing two open police officer positions.

One proposed cut council seems to have already settled on is the elimination of an agreement with the Maricopa Unified School District t to open middle school fields for community use.

In a meeting last week between the school district’s governing board and the city council, the agreement was quashed due to city budget woes, saving the city $250,000.

The cuts are necessary, according to Maricopa Finance Director Cynthia Sneed, due to an unexpected reduction in the number of single-family home permits issued.

This fiscal year’s budget was planned with the assumption that builders would purchase 36 permits per month for the construction of single-family homes. However, during the first quarter, the city issued an average of only 11 permits a month. Since the end of the first quarter on Sept. 30, the monthly average has fallen further, to eight permits per month.

The construction of homes brings money to the city in the form of permit fees and sales tax on newly built houses sold in the city.

To adjust for this reduction, Sneed changed construction revenue forecasts to reflect an average of 10 permits a month, upping the expected $2.6 million city budget deficit by an additional $875,000.

In addition to the cuts from the reduction in construction revenue, other cuts may be necessary due to a decline in sales tax collections.
 
Maricopa projected $7.25 million in TPT (Transaction Privilege Tax) revenue this year, 2.5 percent less than the amount collected last year. However, according to city documents, the actual first-quarter decline was 21 percent.
 
If this lower percentage continued for the entire fiscal year the city would experience a $1.4 million shortfall in TPT revenues, on top of the $875,000 prediction.

In addition to making decisions on possible cuts, council will hold a public comment session on the city bus services and discuss a possible marijuana ordinance.

The city council work session is scheduled to start at 5:30 p.m.; the regular session at 7 p.m. Both meeting are at the Maricopa Unified School District office, 44150 W. Maricopa-Casa Grande Highway.

Below is a list of cuts council is considering: 

Budget Cuts

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