The latest from Glendale:
Scruggs makes a case for letting Coyotes go
Glendale has been cranking out budget scenarios to show where the city would stand considering different variables, such as keeping or losing the sales-tax hike and keeping or losing the Phoenix Coyotes.
It’s the latter that has caught the attention of Mayor Elaine Scruggs.
No immediate cuts would be needed, according to one scenario that assumes the city keeps the tax hike but loses the hockey team that plays at the city-owned Jobing.com Arena.
Scruggs highlighted the no-cuts scenario at this week’s council workshop and called on council members to rethink the Coyotes deal.
The mayor said she would rather keep popular city festivals that are in danger of being cut than pay millions to keep the Coyotes.
“I don’t want to turn off the lights in Glendale,” Scruggs said, suggesting the hockey and concert arena could attract other events that would keep visitors at Westgate City Center, the nearby shopping and restaurant complex.
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Here’s a look at the city’s latest four scenarios:
>> If the tax hike and team stay: The city would need to trim $6 million from the general fund.
>> If the tax hike stays and the team leaves: The city would not immediately need to cut from the general fund, although as with every scenario, the city would have to wean itself off the tax hike before it sunsets in 2017.
>> If the tax hike goes away and the team stays: The city would need to cut $29 million from the general fund.
>> If the tax hike goes away and the team leaves: The city would need to cut $23 million from the general fund.
City leaders say the most severe cuts would hugely impact city services, including closing two of three libraries, shuttering an aquatics center and losing an additional 250 positions, or about a quarter of city staff. The layoffs would impact police and fire employees.
