The city of Phoenix Trial Budget for Fiscal Year (FY) 2023-2024, proposed by Phoenix City Manager Jeff Barton, is ready for public review and comment.

City Manager Barton presented a balanced Trial Budget to council on March 21.

The proposed Trial Budget will provide new and expanded programs and services to the community and ensure the city can competitively pay its employees to attract and retain a highly skilled workforce.

“This year’s Trial Budget is focused on ensuring that we can deliver quality, timely, and efficient services to our residents,” says Phoenix City Manager Jeff Barton. “Over the last three years, the city has made smart, strategic decisions and has expanded programs to assist our residents with the impact and aftermath of COVID-19. The Trial Budget ensures that those vital services and most importantly the people who provide them can be sustained for years to come.”

During the month of April, the Budget and Research Department will hold 11 community budget hearings, inviting residents to attend in-person and give public comment.

This proposed Trial Budget for fiscal year 2023-24 includes $14 million for service additions in key city council priority areas such as: public safety and criminal justice, including adding firefighters to staff a new fire station, which will help to improve response times; further efforts to civilianize positions in the police department to allow sworn officers to respond to higher level public safety calls for service; resources to continue important expiring grant funded programs to support low-income residents and victims of crime; resources are also proposed to add park rangers for overnight patrol at city parks, and increases for community arts grant funding. Additionally, $1 million is reserved for community input and recommendations reflecting resident comments gathered over the next several weeks. Based on available funds some of the suggestions could be incorporated into the final city manager’s budget scheduled to be presented to city council on May 2. The remaining $5 million would be allocated to the General Fund contingency fund, or rainy-day fund to account for proposed ongoing spending initiatives.

The 2023-24 Trial Budget also proposes to allocate resources to address employee compensation, to provide a high level of service ensuring the city’s most valuable assets are paid competitively and positions can be filled with the best talent available. The city is experiencing significant vacancy rates due to the competitive labor market and therefore approximately 85%, or $114 million, of the total $134 million surplus in the 2023-24 Trial Budget is allocated to employee compensation. According to the city, this investment is necessary and will help to fill vacant positions so the services residents rely on and expect can continue to be provided with improved service levels.

What is the General Fund?
The General Fund is part of the city of Phoenix’s total budget. The General Fund is made up of resources including general sales tax, property taxes, revenue distributed by the state from income tax, sales and vehicle license taxes, and some fines and fees. The General Fund supports many of the services residents, visitors, and businesses have come to expect in Phoenix such as libraries, parks, senior and youth programs, and police and fire services.

What’s Next?
After community review, City Manager Barton will present a revised proposed budget to the Phoenix City Council on May 2. The council is expected to decide on the budget on May 16. The approved budget will take effect July 1.

Community Input
Residents are encouraged to participate in upcoming in-person budget hearings. The community is also encouraged to use the City’s FundPHX interactive tool to provide input. The FundPHX tool allows residents to provide direct feedback on the proposed FY 2023-24 Trial Budget additions. All input received from the tool, at the budget hearings, or by contacting the Budget and Research Department directly at [email protected] or by calling 602-262-4800 will be provided to the city council, so they may consider your feedback prior to adopting the budget.

In-Person Community Hearings
The city’s 11 budget hearings include one bilingual community-wide hearing and community-wide hearings for youth and arts.

For information on dates, times, and locations of the scheduled budget hearings, which will also be held on the city’s YouTube page. For more information, visit phoenix.gov/budget/hearings.