GLENDALE CITY COUNCIL APPROVES BUDGET THAT BOOSTS PUBLIC SAFETY, STREET WORK, RECREATION, WATER SERVICES
Additional police officers, street reconstruction on busy roads, new exercise equipment and parks staff to be added
Glendale residents can expect more police officers and enhanced public safety operations, along with smoother travels on busy roads, additional recreational opportunities and a continued focus on quality, sustainable water services after the Glendale City Council approved its final budget for fiscal year 2024-25.
The Glendale City Council on June 11 approved a total budget of $1.48 billion, which is a 17% increase over the previous year’s budget of $1.26 billion. That includes an operating budget of $671 million, as well as a capital improvement plan (CIP) budget of $572 million.
“The budget adoption demonstrates that our continued focus on business development is a major factor in the astonishing revenue growth the City is achieving year after year. This growth allows the city to make continued investments into public safety, parks, community centers, streets, and libraries,” Glendale City Manager Kevin Phelps said. “Most importantly, we are seeing this tremendous growth without having to raise our local property tax rate. Proudly, this marks the 8th year in a row of not raising Glendale’s property tax rate.”
Glendale plans to hire 13 police officers and two supervisors to manage them using a federal grant from the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS Office) and city money to accommodate growth in the city. The police department is currently building a structure to house property and evidence and is planning to build a crime lab to process evidence, including blood and DNA and ballistics adjacent to the new evidence building. Glendale has budgeted more than $21 million for next fiscal year for the property evidence storage facility and has reserved $4 million for the design of the crime lab next fiscal year. Currently police evidence is stored in different city buildings, but the new facility will allow it to be more conveniently reviewed in one location to augment investigations.
Commuting to work, driving children to school and enjoying entertainment in Glendale will be easier as Glendale plans to spend $29.5 million to maintain and reconstruct 117 miles of streets throughout the city in the coming fiscal year. Workers will slurry seal, repave and reconstruct the selected streets. Once done, the streets will be safer for all road users with much improved ride quality. Some of the major streets that will be reconstructed include 67th Avenue between Bell Road and Greenway Road, 51st Avenue between Olive Avenue and Cactus Road and 75th Avenue between Glendale and Northern avenues.
Glendale’s budget also includes money for new exercise equipment at Glendale Adult Center and Foothills Recreation and Aquatics Center, along with wages for two, new employees to work at Heroes Regional Park, where construction crews are building the next phase of development that will include places to play pickleball, a dog park, field sports and other amenities, at the northeast corner of Bethany Home Road and 83rd Avenue.
Sustainability is also a priority in the Fiscal Year 2024-25, which allocates money to the Sewer Line Rehabilitation Program that includes about 15,000 linear feet of sewer line rehabilitation and/or replacement around the city. This program maintains the integrity of the wastewater collection system, minimizing service interruptions, ensuring continued compliance with environmental regulations, decreasing traffic disruptions caused by maintenance crews and improving the overall community experience. Next fiscal year’s budget also provides money for upgrades and enhancements to plant equipment for the Cholla Water Treatment Plant Improvement Project based on a condition assessment finished this year.
Homeowners can rest easy knowing while Glendale plans to spend money on these vital features to improve the great quality of life, the total tax rate for the city is expected to decrease again. It will likely drop from $1.5626 to $1.4925 in the next fiscal year, which starts July 1. For every $100,000 of Limited Property Value of a home, this tax rate decrease will save a homeowner about $7 a year. For example, for a Glendale resident with a home with a Limited Property Value of $400,000, the savings will be $28 a year.
The Glendale City Council is planning to approve the property tax levy on June 25. To learn more about Glendale’s budget, visit
www.glendaleaz.com/your_government/city_finances/financial_reports.