City looks for possible program cutbacks

Budget-minded, Hein surveys listed $117.4M in outside agency funding

By Rob O'Dell

ARIZONA DAILY STAR

programs vulnerable to cuts

A few of the the outside agency programs and their costs that City Manager Mike Hein says the City Council could cut to provide money for new or expanded services:

• Low-income Bus Pass Program: $9.88 million

• Parks and Rec Senior Programming: $571,000

• Access Tucson: $997,700

• Job Path: $500,000

• School Resource Officer Program: $2.7 million

more programs on the list

More, but far from all, of the outside agency programs City Manager Mike Hein says the City Council could cut to provide money for new or expanded services:

Social services

• Mental Health Diversion Program: $165,000

• Vista Del Sahuaro Neighborhood Association/Creative Quilts: $21,300

• Sunnyside Neighborhood Associations Peace Gardens: $14,000

• Humane Society of Arizona: $18,000

• Community Mediation Program/Our Family Services: $54,800

• Wingspan: $65,000

• Tucson Centers for Women and Children: $105,000

• PRO Neighborhoods: $93,100

Seniors

• Van Tran: $11.9 million

• Elder Abuse: $322,000

• Pima Council on Aging: $220,000

• PCOA Sunshine Senior Center: $2,150

• Elder Shelter: $52,000

• Tucson Urban League Senior Lunch and Recreation: $30,000

• El Pueblo Health Center/Preventive Health Services for Children and Elderly: $30,000

• Jewish Family Services/Serving Our Seniors: $30,000

• Interfaith Community Services — Safe and Healthy Senior Independence Program: $30,000

Arts and culture/ civic events

• Tucson Pima Arts Council: $691,000

• Tucson Museum of Art: $85,800

• Tucson Children's Museum: $48,900

• Arizona Opera: $40,500

• Tucson Symphony: $89,700

• Winterhaven Festival of Lights: $58,700

• Tucson Rodeo Parade: $68,400

• El Tour de Tucson: $30,000

Economic development

• School Plus Jobs: $190,000

• Critical Path Institute: $375,000

• Tucson Regional Economic Opportunities (TREO): $1.9 million

• Metropolitan Tucson Convention and Visitors Bureau: $4.6 million

• Tucson Downtown Alliance: $350,000

• Pima Community College/GED Now!: $45,000

• Metropolitan Education Commission: $70,800

• Tucson Learn2$ave Program: $32,500

• Tucson Urban League/Microenterprise Training and Loans Program: $75,300

Kids and recreation

• Junior Teen Scene, Teen Volunteers and In-Between: $268,500

• Free Bus Fares for Children five and under: $244,000

• Tucson Unified School District/Exploring Our Future: $130,000

• Fire Dept. Curriculum Budget including Adopt a School: $302,000

• Tucson Urban League/Child care services: $35,000

• Child and Family Resources: $155,000

• Late Night Hoops: $79,200

• Arts for All Inc.: $50,000

With tough budget times ahead for all Arizona governments, City Manager Mike Hein has compiled a comprehensive list of discretionary spending the City Council could cut if it wants money for new programs.

Hein insists he is not putting these items on the chopping block but instead wants the council to understand the money it gives to outside agencies and how much discretionary money is available.

"The goal is not to reduce it – the goal is to make sure it's being strategically invested," he said. "I don't expect or want to argue over individual line items."

The list includes $117.4 million worth of programs, with nearly half coming from the federal government. The other half is from the city's general fund.

The manager said pulling together a list of outside agency programs is not a new initiative put together because of tough budget times. Because of a slowing economy, the state has a $1 billion budget shortfall, and the same gloomy economic trends are likely to affect the city.

Instead, Hein said he has been asking for a list since he was hired in spring 2005.

Still, the release of the outside agency funding comes as several council members have proposed projects that likely would carry high price tags.

New Councilwoman Regina Romero has proposed creating a curriculum for KIDCO, the city's after-school program. While there is no cost estimate yet, a curriculum would add to KIDCO's $1.75 million budget.

Councilman Steve Leal last year pitched a $6 million expansion of the city-funded Schools Plus Jobs program, which makes sure students have the skills and experience necessary to make it through college or into the job force when they graduate from high school.

The council is also weighing $10 million in improvements to Hi Corbett Field in Reid Park in the hopes of keeping the Colorado Rockies in Tucson for spring training. Some council members have also suggested repealing the city's garbage fee at a cost of $24 million.

"It's going to be a tough fiscal year," Hein said. "If people think it should be redistributed, that's the prerogative of mayor and council."

Hein said he asked for the list because many times an agency requests emergency funds from the city, and that appropriation simply becomes part of the city budget in the following years.

"Times change. Issues that were salient five years ago may not be the issues of today," Hein said. "Programs get funded in the budget, and there's no periodic review on them."

Council members said they were happy with the level of detail in the list — 27 pages of single-spaced program entries — but said they want that same specificity in the rest of the city's budget.

"The detail is helpful," Councilwoman Karin Uhlich said of Hein's list. "It would be helpful to see it in other areas of the budget."

Romero said the list showed the city is doing a good job of funding outside agencies. But she said she wants this amount of detail in other parts of the city's budget if the council needs to make cuts.

"Why not look at the other departments the same way?" Romero said. "Why do we have to pit outside agencies and nonprofits against each other all the time?"