City Adds Critical Positions While Planning For Potential Inflation Increases
The Glendale City Council has approved Glendale’s 2022-23 budget of $1.07 billion. The city’s budget is prepared each fiscal year, which begins July 1 and ends June 30.
The 2022-23 fiscal-year budget includes an operating budget of $546 million. Highlights from this year’s operating budget include inflationary increases to contractual obligations, utilities, supplies, fuel and shop charges. The city will also add close to 60 new positions for employees who will continue its mission of improving the lives those who live, work, and play in Glendale.
General Fund revenues, which are primarily used for general government operations, are projected to be $255 million. The largest operating budgets are Police and Fire Departments with expenditures totaling $158 million, or 61% of the budget. The next largest is Public Facilities, Recreation and Special Events at $17.8 million, which reflects the Council’s priority to invest in operations and maintenance activities at the city’s parks. Glendale is aggressively reinvesting in parks with improvements like new restrooms, more lighting, freshly updated walking trails as well as additional ballfields and splash pads
“It’s quite an accomplishment to have weathered the storm of the pandemic and come out strong with a budget that does not raise property taxes and still accomplishes our goals of providing quality amenities and services for our community,” said Glendale Mayor Jerry P. Weiers.
The budget introduced a $1.4 billion 10-year Capital Improvement Plan, with the first year coming in at $287 million. Notable projects in the first year of the Capital Improvement Plan include:
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Downtown Campus Reinvestment Project
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Improvements at the Main Library
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Improvements at Thunderbird Conservation Park
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Addition of five new splash pads and renovations of three existing splash pads throughout the city
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Fire Station #153 improvements
“This new budget afforded us the opportunity to not only expand our police force with more full-time employees but our fire department as well,” said Glendale Director of Budget & Finance Lisette Camacho. “We also were able to invest back into our water infrastructure, which is crucial now more than ever with the drought management plan that our city recently announced.”