The Chopping Block: Mesa, Arizona faces massive cuts

04-07-2010 • AZcentral.com

"It is like a bad dream that you cannot wake up from," City Councilman Dennis Kavanaugh said after City Manager Chris Brady warned employees in a memo this week that not everyone will still be on payroll come July. The council has known since February how big a hole it must dig out of - $19.6 million for the 2010-11 general fund. Last week it learned there's also a $1.3 million gap for mass transit. Those numbers represent the difference between what Mesa had previously budgeted for next fiscal year and its revised revenue estimates. On Thursday morning, the pain begins in earnest. The police and fire departments will tell the council how they plan to trim their staffing and operations yet again. Other departments will follow in coming weeks as the city heads toward its June 21 budget-approval deadline.