The city's new budget will spare Phoenix government jobs.

As it stands, the recently-approved 2010-2011 operating budget for the City of Phoenix won't eliminate any local government jobs. Officials have claimed they've learned to do "more with less" in order to close a $277.3 million budget gap.

During February, the City Council approved a 2 percent food tax in order to save more than 1,300 local government jobs. The tax has since provided the city with more than $3.3 million and could generate $12.5 million this fiscal year and $50 million during the 2011 fiscal year.

The Phoenix-Mesa-Glendale area's government industry employed 248,400 workers during May, according to the U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics. This is up from 243,000 workers during April and a .4 percent increase from last year.

The City Council adopted the budget by a vote of seven to two. During April, Phoenix reported a positive over-the-year increase in general-fund sales-tax revenue for the first time in three years, according to The Arizona Republic.

"Our city has work to do and tough choices to make as we strive to accelerate an economic recovery that can't happen quickly enough for any of us," Mayor Phil Gordon said in a press release.

The operating budget for the 2010-2011 fiscal year totals $3.05 billion. The portion of the budget that makes up the general fund totals $1.01 billion, which is a decrease of $85.7 million or 9.3 percent compared to the peak 2007-2008 year, and a drop of $79.2 million or 7.2 percent from five years earlier.

In addition, the City Council previously decided to wait two years to decide whether or not to increase the property tax rate. That means the rate will remain at $1.82 per $100 of assessed value, which will cost homeowners 40 percent less in taxes during the two-year period.

Labels: Phoenix government jobs