Phoenix has tucked away quite a bit for a “rainy day fund,” and it has the public buzzing about what to do with the extra money. Next fiscal year, Phoenix is projected to have $1.9 million in budgetary surplus. Foreseeing a shortfall in the next year fiscal year, City Manager Ed Zuercher drafted a proposal to use that money in the hiring of civilian police assistants. The leftover amount, $691,000, would go into the aforementioned “rainy day fund.”

However, residents who attend public meetings have their own opinions as how to spend that sizable chunk of change. More than 25 people showed up at the last public meeting on April 20th. Residents filled the Sunnyslope Community Center to voice concerns of public safety. General consensus pointed to spending more money on crime prevention, and then hiring more police officers.

In order to fight crime prevention, Phoenix citizens proposed more funding for child and teen services such as after-school programs and teen centers. The idea is to keep kids off of the streets and out of trouble. Speakers encouraged libraries to stay open all seven days of the week, especially in the summertime.

As far as hiring more police, Phoenix anticipates hiring up to 260 officers the next fiscal year to offset the 40 sworn officers that are looking toward retirement. The city’s goal is to hit 3,125 sworn officers. Phoenix is far below the national average of sworn officers per state, which sits at 2.5 sworn officers per 1,000 citizens. Phoenix would actually need to hire 4,000 officers to come closer to that statistic.

Zuercher also proposed that $1.3 million of the budget surplus be spent on hiring 16 civilian police officers to handle administrative work. This will allow sworn officers the time to respond to emergency calls.