The city of Mesa at its June 1 meeting approved a tentative budget plan for next fiscal year that one councilman says is the product of a reshaped municipal philosophy on how business is done within city limits.

"This tentative budget is the maximum budget and the maximum amount of money in which this city can spend," said Mesa Mayor Scott Smith during the meeting. "This is not the final budget."

According to Mayor Smith, the final budget is slated for approval at council’s June 22 meeting, which is 5:45 p.m. at City Council Chambers, 57 E. First St.

The proposed fiscal year 2009-10 budget is $1,137,222,848, according to Mesa Vice Mayor Kyle Jones, who made the June 1 motion to approve the tentative budget. It was approved unanimously by city council.

Prior to the motion to approve the tentative budget, a public hearing was held for Mesa residents to voice concerns and contribute their suggestions. Walter Vance of District 5 was the only person to talk about the proposed fiscal plan.

Mr. Vance, vice president of the Mesa Fraternal Order of Police, told city council of "grumbling" within the Mesa Police Department and warned that some may leave MPD because of a recent reduction in pay and the cancellation of merit pay.

According to Mr. Vance, the MFOP represents police officers of Mesa and its main priority is to maintain and fight for wages of its members.

"We understand the troubles with the budget and the economy," Mr. Vance said, prefacing his comments to council.

According to Mr. Vance — and confirmed through Mesa Councilman Dave Richins, who represents District 1 — all city employees including police officers took a 2 percent pay reduction last January.

"Our understanding, is that effective July 1, merit pay for these officers — the younger officers — are going to be frozen," Mr. Vance told council. "Unknown when those will be unfrozen, with the economy nobody knows."

Mr. Vance said merit pay is crucial for the city of Mesa to retain those young officers — who have been with the department less than seven years — and the lack of merit pay could become a catalyst for officers leaving the department.

"The guys (who) are bringing the crime rate down over these last three years are these young officers that are not going to receive this 5 percent merit pay," he said of the 5 percent bump in pay that is typical for municipal officers.

Mr. Vance said those officers, who he claims are responsible for the noticeable reduction in Mesa’s crime rate over the last three years, are entitled to more pay.

"They’re out there doing their job — they’re doing it well — you can see with the reduction in crime," he explained to council. "There is grumbling going on in the department. There are officers already talking about going elsewhere."

Mr. Vance claims if the city of Mesa loses officers it will have an increasingly difficult time filling those positions.

"If we lose officers ... we’re not going to get the quality officers," he said, adding, "I just want to make sure you understand where our officers are coming from."

Councilman Richins says cities across the state are facing similar financial constraints and while the 2 percent pay reduction coupled with the absence of merit pay for certain officers is tough, those reductions had to be made.

"I find that fascinating given that every other city is going through the same thing," he said of the tough economic times in June 2 phone interview. "I love police officers and I think they do a great job with limited resources."

But as for the threat of officers leaving, Councilman Richins says: "because all of the cities are flushed with cash — good luck with that."

According to Councilman Richins, the city of Mesa was forced to cut $60 million out of its fiscal year 2009-10 budget over the last 18 months, but says taking money from city employees is never an easy decision.

"If there was something that I could do it would be to give that 2 percent back to all city employees," he said. "That would be my No. 1 priority."

Although Councilman Richins acknowledged the deep city cuts saying, "we are down to muscles, tissues and the bones," he says he is encouraged by the changes made.

"I think we are well-positioned to be able to concentrate on a different kind of growth," he said. "The days of the sweeping master-planned community are largely over with the exception of the DMB Proving Grounds."

Councilman Richins says over the last few budget cycles the city of Mesa has been focusing on its core mission, which is to eliminate wasteful spending, developing partnerships and consolidating city departments.

"The core fundamental things in each department have been either combined, eliminated or outsourced," he explained. "I am confident that Mesa government is focused on the core mission, (which is) there isn’t any waste. I think that is what has happened in the last couple of years."

While Councilman Richins pointed to reasons for optimism, he also outlined what he felt to be challenges lying ahead for the city of Mesa.

"As far as looking into the future we need to stabilize our expenses," he said. "Do we want to be as dependent on sales tax revenues as we have in the past?"

Councilman Richins says the state legislature needs to look within to balance its budget rather than riding the coattails of Arizona cities and towns.

"I am sorry, I haven’t seen any reform from the state legislature," he said of plans for the state to possibly take impact fees and now vehicle license tax remits from cities and towns. "They need to get their house in order before they can come and point the finger at me."