Phoenix City Councilman Sal DiCiccio is calling for Phoenix to develop a “real strategic plan” to tackle the City’s structural deficit. DiCiccio, who has been bringing attention to what he describes as the “poor financial state of the city,” says he will be “releasing an in-depth paper soon with documentation that will no doubt create a heated discussion.”
DiCiccio claims that the City of Phoenix has released a report on the state of the financial future of the city “that only skims the surface of the major budget problems.” Phoenix has seen forecasted deficits repeatedly requiring “corrections.”
“Even though Phoenix is experiencing increased revenues due to a growing economy and higher taxes, we will continue to see shortfalls in our budget until we fix this structural deficit,” said DiCiccio in a press release. “These budget problems cannot be blamed solely on soaring pension costs which continue to exist even after city leaders promised you the pension problem was “solved.” While soaring pension costs are a significant problem, Phoenix has a structural deficit in addition to the out-of-control pension expenses.”
DiCiccio argues that the “primary solution to the structural deficit, which would put Phoenix on the right track, is a real strategic plan.” He calls for “prioritizing the functions and services.”
DiCiccio offers as an example, the fact that City spends millions of dollars lobbyists and public relation efforts every year.
“Even more alarming examples of wasteful spending exist,” stated DiCiccio. “For example, when Phoenix paid $9.875 million dollars to an out of state company to talk to you and your family about recycling. No joke. $9.875 million of your hard earned tax dollars to “talk” about recycling.”
“This comes at a time when the Phoenix Police Department will be reallocating resources to get more officers back on the streets to be available to respond to the community’s calls for service and to increase officer/community safety,” continued DiCiccio. “Public safety is a core function of our city, and I commend Chief Williams for having a strategic plan that strengthens our core missions, but this reallocation would never have been necessary if Phoenix did not allow the police shortage to get to record levels due to lack of funding.”
DiCiccio is critical of the City’s decision to focus on increasing revenues, which he says is a “proven failure.”
“You can’t just waltz into your boss’s office and demand a raise because you want to eat out more,” said DiCiccio. “So why do you allow your government to spend monies on things that are not only non-essential, but quite frankly insane?”
According to DiCiccio, his plan “will outline specifically how governments steal from the poor and overtax a heavily burdened middle class.”