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Tempe council candidates offer competing fixes for roughly $21 million shortfall: cuts, fees or taxes
Summary
At a Tempe candidate forum, contenders differed on closing a roughly $21 million shortfall: some proposed targeted spending reviews and hiring freezes; others proposed new local taxes and tourist fees, while incumbents cited reserve draws and program cuts.
At a candidate forum at the Tempe History Museum, contenders for three at-large seats offered sharply different approaches to closing a roughly $21 million revenue shortfall the city reports after state changes to shared tax revenue.
Brooke St. George proposed a disciplined, priority-based approach: freeze nonessential hiring, run 90-day zero‑based budgeting sprints in the highest-spending departments, post results publicly and pursue revenue from development impact fees and long-term ground leases. “Every program would have to show real outcomes before we spend money,” she…
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