I would like to call the word of the city council meeting of April 7th, 2025.

Would you all be on the rise and join me with a Pledge of Allegiance and a moment of slide?

And we just stands for a nation under God and invisible liberty justice for all this vocal, please.

Councilmember Condi.

Here.

Councilmember Garcia.

Here.

Councilmember Solario.

Councilmember Weiss.

Here.

Councilmember White.

Present.

Vice Mayor Nielsen.

Here.

Mayor Paneda.

Here.

Ron, next item, please.

Thank you, Mr.

Mayor and Council.

Uh first we have a presentation by Chief Rooney and uh Gabby Babinsky, our community outreach coordinator, to celebrate the completion of the Avondale Fire Medical Citizens Academy.

Good evening, Mayor, Vice Mayor, and Council.

Tonight I have the privilege of introducing Gabby Bob Bobinski, our uh reach coordinator for the fire department who um oversaw our this year's our our Citizens Fire Academy.

So with that, she'll do a nice presentation with us, and we'll get to meet some of the people that attend.

Good evening.

Um tonight I would like to do our Citizen Academy participants.

Um they're there in the back corner.

We have someone who will speak at the end.

Um this year we had nine participants who uh attended seven of our classes, kind of getting a little bit of background into how we run um Avondel Fire.

On our first night, uh, we held it at station 172.

They were able to get a tour of our command van, which was kind of cool because we used it the week prior for NASCAR.

Um they got to hear a little bit about our emergency operations, how we support NASCAR and other events here in the city, as well as some background on our department and how um we regulate um our safety procedures and things like that.

On the second night, uh they had a tour of station 172 and were introduced to our community risk reduction and our fire investigations and inspections.

Um on the third day, they had a tour of station 175, and they were able to uh learn a little bit about extrication and our ladder company functions.

Uh they got to touch the tools and they uh were up in the ladder, which is always a really good time.

Uh the fourth night, they earned their CPR certifications and uh had a little introduction to our emergency medical services, which is kind of the bread and butter of our departments, predominantly the type of calls we run on.

Uh the next night was a station tour of 174, uh, where they had a little peek into our engine company functions and they were able to use our hoses.

Uh the next night, we introduced them to our Avondel 1 campaign, um, our threat liaison officer program, and they earned certificates in Stop the Bleed.

And that night they were also able to go home with um a Narcan kit and a tourniquet.

Um, our final night was our special operations where they learned about our wildland team and our technical rescue team.

Um, they also got a tour of station 173, our brush truck, and um squad 173.

At this time, I would like to introduce Mike Martin who will say a few words on his experience.

Good evening, Mayor, Vice Mayor, City Council.

Um, thank you for the opportunity um for us to participate in these academies.

Um, we got a little bit of a taste of what our firefighters do.

It's uh just a little taste.

We put on their fall out gear and got to go up in the ladder and all this, and it's amazing now what these guys do on a daily basis to protect us.

And thank you guys for the opportunity, and you guys for putting on these academies, they're amazing.

I appreciate y'all.

Thank you.

Thank you.

So thank you all, Chief Gabby.

Thank you for everything that you do, and Mike, thank you for representing uh the Academy and the graduates.

And uh, will we be looking forward to you putting in a resume or sale?

Just thought I'd ask.

We're always recruiting.

But okay, well, thank you so much.

And um is there anybody else here on the dais who would like to share or asking me questions?

I know this is a great academy, but Councilmember Garcia.

I just want to say thank you to all the participants who took the time to see what our fire department does.

Um they work hard.

They should be recognized for it, and to see it from the inside is definitely a different perspective than to see it from the outside.

So for you to take the time out of your day to do that.

Um, thank you guys so much.

And for everyone who put it on, thank you guys for doing that and giving uh people in our community that opportunity.

And mayor, we will have a photo opportunity um at the end after all the presentations.

Council Member Solorio.

Congratulations to you guys.

Um having taken this class last year as another academy to see what our citizens see.

I can tell you that I didn't know that fire, like you call fire for anything, basically.

And um I might get a little bit of hate in the room, but um I would say that the fire academy to me, you everyone does a good job, I'll preface it that way.

Was probably the best time ever.

So, yes.

I like the way you clean that up there at the end.

Everyone is a great so, really quickly, Gabby.

Uh, while we're on this topic, can you tell us when the academy will be held next?

I'm assuming it'll be next year, but just so that those either online um or here in the audience who are maybe thinking about it uh can put that into their uh you know, purview, so to speak.

Yeah, registration uh will open up again in the fall.

Uh we'll post about it on our social media, so follow us on Avendale uh Fire and Medical.

Um it'll go on again, I believe, from May to April.

The dates depend on again when we host NASCAR.

We did hold it right after we um held NASCAR here in the city, so it kind of depends on when their dates are.

Okay.

Well, thank you so much.

And for all of you uh who participated, thank you so much.

We'll see you shortly, and thank you, Chief and Gabby and Mike, Mike, for for uh your participation.

We thank you.

We're on next item.

Thank you, Mr.

Mayor and Council.

Up next, uh we have a proclamation for the month of the military child to kick it off.

Uh Andy, our HR director.

Good evening, Mayor, Vice Mayor, and Council.

Um it's my privilege to introduce tonight's designer uh I'm sorry, it's my privilege to introduce tonight's proclamation for month of the military child.

April is designated as month of the military child, a time to honor the sacrifices made by military families worldwide with an emphasis on the experience of the dependent children of military members serving at home and overseas.

At this time, I'd like to acknowledge a guests that have joined us this evening from Luke Air Force Base.

Mr.

Samuel Smith, Luke Air Force Space School Liaison Program Manager.

Miss Christy Gerardi, Luke Air Force Base Community Partnership Program Manager.

And as you know, each year we recognize the current Avondale employee who has served in the military and understands the sacrifices made by military families personally.

This year it's my privilege to introduce and recognize Sergeant Christopher Beckett from the police department.

Sergeant Beckett and his wife Crystal, who also served in the military from 2003 to 2005, have four children.

William, 15, Joshua, 13, Matthew, 11, and Alina, 10.

Sergeant Beckett has served 22 years in the Air Force and was a superintendent over the heavy equipment shop for a number of years.

Since 2024, he has served as the first sergeant for the Civil Engineering Squadron at the 161st Air Refueling Wing at Goldwater Air National Bay National Guard base in Phoenix, Arizona.

He deployed in 2004 prior to having children and deployed to Al-Udid, Qatar in 2019, and AB 201 Africa in 2023.

Sergeant Beckett has been employed with the City of Avondale for 18 years and currently serves as a supervising sergeant over the community action team.

Mayor, I'd like to turn it back to you for any acknowledgments or comments and for reading the proclamation.

Thank you.

Thank you so much, Andy.

And Sergeant Beckett, would you have any words that you'd like to share?

Yes.

Actually, so um Council Mayor.

Thank you for giving me the opportunity to speak today in recognition of the month of the military child.

It is my profound honor to stand before you alongside with my wife of 18 years, our four children, William Joshua, Matthew, and Alina.

As a member of the Air Force for over 22 years, I've had the privilege of serving the country while also working as a police officer for the City of Avondale over 18 years throughout my military career.

Throughout my military career, I have held various positions, and most recently took on the position of first sergeant, which is essentially like HR.

So shout out to HR.

It's a very difficult position, but very rewarding.

For the police department, I've also served on numerous uh teams and assignments to include patrol field training officer.

I've served on TOU and then the community action team as an officer and also as the supervising uh sergeant over that unit, which is the most rewarding uh position I've ever held.

Uh my journey has taken me around the globe with military, uh, from deployments to LUD uh in 2019 and also Air Base 201 in Niger, Africa in 2023.

Um I've been away from my family for probably at least a year and a half of their lives uh between the deployments and various trainings, so it's been very difficult in some instances.

Um as a military child myself, uh I know the instability of having your dad leave or constantly moving, uh, which is why I chose to actually make my home here in Avondale once uh we settled here when I was 13 years old.

Um then I joined the military, was active duty for a while and said I can't do this moving around thing, so that's why I joined the National Guard and wanted to be a police officer too with the city.

Uh since then I've really, really, really enjoyed living in the city and uh the city's been so great and supportive of my family.

But the real reason why we're here today is to speak about the month of the military child.

Uh my wife, Crystal, also served in the Air Force from 2003 to 2005.

Uh so she understands the unique uh sacrifices that military life demands.

Additionally, she continues to serve our community as a fourth grade teacher at Lichfield Elementary School, uh, shaping young minds and nurturing the next generation.

Also tomorrow's her birthday.

Happy birthday.

Uh raising four children while managing uh these dual careers is no small feat.

It involves endless juggling, late night, and sometimes tough decisions.

Yet every day brings new challenges, and more importantly, immense joy as I watch William, Joshua, Matthew, and Alina grow into remarkable individuals.

Their resilience as military kids and adaptability uh inspires me daily.

My children and wife have been the greatest or have made the greatest sacrifice when it comes to service.

They understand living without one parent for extended periods of time and uh being without them when I can't make it to certain events.

Missed birthdays, anniversaries, scouting, camping trips is kind of the ones that I really regret.

Um also uh Taekwondo belt testing and even vacations that I've missed have been very tough.

Um, she also understands, or they also understand, the commitment I have made to ensure that they have a safe place to call home right here in Avondale.

So that's why I've chose to become a police officer because I want to make sure that my family grows up in a safe place as well.

In closing, I want to express my deepest appreciation to my wife and children.

Uh your sacrifice doesn't go unnoticed.

Thank you for your love, understanding, and for being my anchor through the challenges and balancing these demanding careers.

I'm proud to be a part of this community, even prouder to be your husband and kids, your father.

I love you.

So, Crystal, you did hear that he also mentioned anniversaries when he said that he missed other things, vacations and other things.

So he's off the hook, I think, on that one.

But uh, you know, you you mentioned the sacrifice, and last last year um, you know, it was really kind of explained to me and the information was shared with me, and just how much the family sacrifices uh while one of the members of the family is gone to service.

And so, Crystal, while you and the family were here, um, you know, and in juggling all the day-to-day things that happen in lives uh without uh your husband here to support you, uh that takes to a tremendous sacrifice and uh a very strong, not only individual, but a strong unit.

And it looks like you have that here.

And are any of the kids looking at potentially a military career?

Yes, actually, the tall one in the back there, almost taller than me.

Uh that's William.

He's actually been in the Civil Air Patrol for almost a year and a half two years.

So he's uh making his way to become an Air Force pilot in the future.

Nice.

Well, you chose a great career, great family, uh, you know, great city to represent, as you mentioned, put the roots down, and we appreciate your service to the city.

We appreciate your service to the country, and more importantly, we appreciate the service that the family has all provided you uh when you have not been there.

And so thank you so much.

And Crystal, is there anything that you would like to share?

You look like you're ready to go.

No, okay.

Thank you for well, thank you so much.

And uh, while we have uh before we get to the proclamation, I know that we have Samuel here.

Samuel is there anything that you would like to share with with uh us up here at the Dais regarding the program.

Thank you, Mr.

Mayor, Councilmember.

Oh, my name is Samuel Smith.

I'm the school liaison program manager at Luke Air Force Base.

And in that endeavor, my job is to make sure our military connected kids and families are taking care of in their transition.

Because as the parent goes away, the and the families are transitioned, they are challenges.

They are academic challenges, they are social and emotional challenges.

And so the military saw fit to create the school liaison to help support those families as they navigate through those transitions and through those times.

I recently came here to the West Valley.

Uh, came here about six months ago, came in from Guatanal Bay, Cuba.

And so here in this area, we have 611 schools, 40 school districts, and 21,000 military connective students that my office have oversight or responsibility for.

So we are certainly happy to be here tonight as Avondale is leading the way.

Leading the way with this proclamation that none other the cities have.

The governor signs a proclamation, but none of our local cities have.

And so we thank you for that.

We appreciate your partnership with Luke Air Force Base, and we certainly look to continue to have a relationship with the city of Avondale and this flying community.

Thank you for this time there, Mayor.

Thank you so much, Sam.

I really appreciate it.

And at this time, if we can get the proclamation read.

Proclamation, month of the military child, April 2025.

Whereas since 1986, the Department of Defense has recognized military children during the month of April.

Because of their service, commitment, and sacrifice to supporting the military's mission, it is important to honor and celebrate our military's youngest heroes.

And whereas April 2025, month of the military military child theme is celebrating military children and youth, building stronger character and relationships.

Military children show bravery, fearlessness, and resilience by adapting and meeting adversity head on in an ever-changing environment.

And whereas the children of military service members and veterans face unique challenges and experiences due to their parent service, including frequent moves, changing schools, and the emotional impact of deployment, reintegration and injured of fallen parents.

And whereas the Month of the Military Child highlights our commitment to providing excellent education, child care, and youth services to support military children and help them overcome the challenges they face.

The city of Alendor Avondale honors and appreciates the military connected children and families in our community for their positivity, resilience, and sacrifice they make.

We also recognize the dedication of military parents who serve while raising their families.

The city of Avondale is proud to be home to many military connected families, particularly staff members who continue to serve and residents stationed at Luke Air Force Base, one of the largest and most important military installations in the country.

Our community has strong ties to the base, and we recognize the sacrifice and resilience of both the military children and the families who serve our nation from this vital installation.

Now, therefore, be it resolved.

I, Jeanette Garcia, by virtue of the authority vested in me as council member of the city of Avondale, Arizona, proclaim April 2025 as the month of the military child and call upon the residents of Avondale to celebrate the challenges and triumphs of our military connected children.

I just have uh one more thing to add to that if you if you don't mind.

Purple Up Day is a special day of recognition for military children.

This year, Avondale has chosen Thursday, April 17th to commemorate Purple Up Day.

On this day, all are encouraged to wear the color purple as a symbol of support for military kids and their families.

The color purple was chosen as it a combination of the colors of all branches of the military.

Purple Up Day serves to raise awareness of unique challenges faced by military children, including frequent moves, deployments, and separations from their loved ones.

It also serves as a reminder of the resilience and strength of military kids who often face challenges that are not experienced by their civilian peers.

I encourage all Avondale residents and employees to wear purple on Thursday, April 17th to show their appreciation and their support for these brave young people, and to recognize their service and sacrifices for our country.

In addition, I just want to last thank all of the members of this organization to include staff, public safety who have family members or who themselves provided service to this country, and just say thank you on behalf of the Avondale City Council.

So thank you all for being here tonight to celebrate this.

We appreciate it.

Ron, next item, please.

Thank you, Mr.

Mayor and Council.

Up next, we have uh Chief Espinoza to up with the proclamation for National Crime Victim Rights Week.

Good evening, Mayor, Vice Mayor and Council.

Thank you for having us.

I would like to introduce you to Patty Young, who is a PD's victim advocate, and Veronica?

Who is the victim advocate at the Southwest Family Advocacy Center?

At this time, Patty will say a few words in reference to the National Crime Victims Right Week.

Patty.

Thank you, Chief.

Mayor, Vice Mayor, and Council members.

Uh, think good evening and thank you for having us here tonight to receive the proclamation announcing that April 6th through 12th, 2025 is National Crime Victims Rights Week.

This year's theme is kinship.

It is a call to action to recognize that shared humanity should be the center of supporting all survivors and victims of crime.

Kinship is a state of being the survivors that drives vital connections to services, rights, and healing.

For us victim advocates, it is essential that we make those strong connections within our community.

This includes prosecutors, nonprofits, other victim services throughout Arizona, and our own Avondale Resource Center.

It is a necessity of giving voice to victims and ensuring their rights through the criminal justice system, which brings closeness and kinship, which is helping families and survivors to heal.

This kinship is where victim advocacy begins.

This concludes my presentation at this time.

I'll pass it back to you, Mayor, for the reading of the proclamation.

Welcome.

Thank you, Mayor.

Thank you, Patty, for reading that.

So proclamation National Crime Victims Week, April 6th through 12th, 2020 25.

Whereas crime affects individuals, families, and communities in profound and varied ways, often leaving lasting physical, emotional, and social challenges.

Whereas the concept of kinship underscores the connections that build bridges to support services and shared strength among survivors, advocates, and communities.

Whereas kinship is the foundation of victim advocacy, inspiring trauma-informed care that needs survivors where they are.

Whereas through kinship, we build peer networks and community alliances that empower survivors, foster resilience, and offer pathways to healing.

Whereas kinship reminds us of the strength that comes from connection, the importance of listening to every voice, and the power we have to create lasting change when we work together.

Now, therefore, I, Tina Condi, by the virtue of the authority vested in me as council member of the City of Avondale, Arizona, do hereby proclaim the week of April 6th through 12th, 2025 as crime victims rights week.

This proclamation reaffirms our dedication to building connections, standing in kinship with survivors, and creating a future where healing and hope are within reach for everyone.

Thank you guys so much.

Ron, next item, please.

Thank you, Mr.

Mayor and Council.

Up next, we have Natasha, our branch manager to present the Proclamation National Library Week and our winners of our 2025 bookmark contest.

Hello, Mayor, Vice Mayor, and Council.

My name is Natasha Alavi, branch manager of Sam Garcia Library for the Parks, Recreation, and Libraries Departments.

We are excited to be celebrating National Library Week.

In addition to books, libraries provide exciting programs and special events like SteamFests and Carmes to research databases, a seed library, museum culture passes, exercise equipment, science take home kits, hot spots, and much more.

Sam Garcia Library, also recently, and A.

B.

Cernas Plaza experienced a renovation, which provided upgraded service desks, new furniture, new paint, LED sensor lights, a new children's play area, a playground upgrade, and new signage and benches for A.

B.

Cernas Plaza.

In 2024 alone, both branches had 156,2527 visitors.

Now to the bookmark contest.

It is with great excitement that we announce the winners of the 2025 Avondale Public Library Bookmark Design Contest.

Winner is Grayson Munz, age seven.

For grades four to eight, our winners Melanie Fimbrez, age 13.

For grades 9 to 12, our winner is age 15.

At this time, Mayor, would you like to read the proclamation?

It's actually going to be Councilmember Weiss.

So Councilmember Weiss, would you please read the proclamation?

Natasha, thank you.

Yeah, thank you.

Proclamation National Library Week 2025.

Whereas libraries spark creativity, fuel imagination, and inspire lifelong learning, offering a space where individuals of all ages can explore new ideas and be drawn to new possibilities.

Whereas libraries provide free and equitable access to books, digital tools, and innovative programming, ensuring that all individuals, regardless of background, have the support they need to learn, connect, and thrive.

Whereas libraries partner with schools, businesses, and organizations, connecting the dots to maximize resources, increase efficiency, and expand access to essential services, strengthening the entire community.

Whereas libraries nurture young minds through story times, STEAM programs, and literacy initiatives, fostering curiosity and a love of learning that last a lifetime.

Whereas libraries serve as a vibrant community hubs, connecting people with knowledge, technology, and resources while fostering civic engagement, critical thinking, and lifelong learning.

Whereas dedicated librarians and library workers provide welcoming spaces that inspire discovery, collaboration, and creativity for all.

Now, therefore, be it resolved.

I, Sherry Weiss, by the virtue of the authority invested in me as a council member for the City of Avondale, Arizona, do hereby proclaim April 6th through 12, 2025 as National Library Week.

During this week, I encourage all residents to visit their library, explore its resources, and celebrate all the ways that the library draws us together as a community.

And congratulations to all of you winners.

Great job.

Mr.

Mayor, as a as a reminder, uh we hope the family stick around for just a few more minutes so we can get pictures with the uh the council.

Yes, thank you, Ron.

Next item, please.

Thank you, Mr.

Mayor and Council.

Up next is we have another uh proclamation from one of uh uh the uh parks uh divisions.

We have the proclamation for the week of the young child.

Uh Mark, our recreation manager is gonna uh kick us off.

Good evening, Mayor, Vice Mayor, and Council.

My name is Mark Foote.

I'm the recreation manager for Parks Recreation and Libraries Department.

We are so excited to be celebrating the week of the young child this year with our Kidfest event this Saturday from 9 to 1 at Friendship Park.

Um, in conjunction with this event, the seventh annual Superhero 5K will be held that morning, the proceeds from which uh support the Southwest Family Advocacy Center.

The 54th annual Week of the Young Child is an effort from the National Association for the Education of Young Children to promote access to family resources and early childhood education.

And first things first, represented by Delaney Russell and Annette Bourne.

At this time, Mayor, we'd love for any questions and or to read the proclamation.

Thank you so much.

Can we get the proclamation?

I believe it's Vice Mayor Nilson will be reading that.

I'll take care of that one.

Proclamation Week of the Young Child, whereas all young children deserve quality early learning environments that support them as lifelong learners, whereas nurturing parenting, why don't you give me this one?

Parenting and quality accessibility child care build strong brains during the critical years from birth to age five.

And where is the Valley of the Sun United Way?

First things first, Arizona Association for the Education of Young Children, read on Arizona, read on Southwest Valley, and other community organizations in conjunction with the National Association for the Education of Young Children are several rating the 54th anniversary of the week of the young child.

Whereas these organizations are working to improve early learning opportunities that provide a strong start for the children in Avondale, and whereas early childhood educators and child care providers who make a difference in the lives of young children deserve to be well supported and well compensated for this important work.

Whereas public policies that support early learning for all young children are crucial to the success of Arizona's families, community, and economy.

Now, therefore, be it resolved like Curtis Nilton by virtue of the authority vested in me as Vice Mayor of the City of Avondale, Arizona, do hereby proclaim April 5th through April 11th as Week of the Young Child, and encourage all citizens to support investment in early childhood education in our community.

Thank you.

And thank you, Don Delaney and Annette for being here tonight.

We appreciate your Ron, next item, please.

Thank you, Mr.

Mayor and Council.

Next is our proclamation of National Public City Telecommunication.

I believe that the President's Good evening again, Mayor, Vice Mayor and Council.

With me, I have uh Angela Destin and her team.

Uh Angela's gonna be saying a few words in reference to the National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week.

Angela.

Good evening, Mayor, Vice Mayor, Council members.

My name is Angela Destin.

I'm the communication manager for the Avondale Police Department.

I'm here with Kristen Martin.

She is a communications supervisor for our department.

And we're here tonight to celebrate Telecommunicators Week that's coming up April 13th through the 19th, and show appreciation for the amazing work the men and women of our police communication division does.

While they're often working behind the scenes, their efforts are essential in keeping our community safe.

I'd like to thank you all for taking the time out to recognize our work.

And with that, I'll pass it back to you guys for any questions for the proclamation.

Thank you so much, Angela.

Councilmember White.

Thank you so much.

I'll read the proclamation for National Public Safety Telecommunication Week, April 13th through April 19th, 2025.

Whereas emergencies that require police, fire, or emergency medical services can occur at any time.

And whereas an emergency occurs, the prompt response of police officers, firefighters, and paramedics is critical to the protection of life and preservation of property.

And whereas the safety of our police officers, firefighters, and paramedics is dependent upon the quality and accuracy of information obtained from citizens who call the Avondale Police Department Communications Center, and whereas public safety telecommunicators are the first and most critical contact our citizens have with emergency services, and whereas public safety telecommunicators are the single vital link for our police officers, firefighters, and paramedics by monitoring their activity by radio, providing them information and ensuring their safety.

And whereas public safety telecommunicators of the Avondale Police Department have contributed substantially to the apprehension of criminals, and whereas each dispatcher has exhibited compassion, understanding, and professionalism during the performance of their job in the past year now.

Therefore, I, Max White, by the virtue of the authority vested in me as council member of the City of Avondale, Arizona, do hereby proclaim the week of April 13th through the 19th, 2025 as National Public Safety Communicators Week in Avondale, in honor of the men and women whose diligence and professionalism keep our city and citizens safe.

Thank you.

Thank you so much for what you do.

Ron, next item, please.

Thank you, Mr.

Mayor.

Up next, we have a proclamation for the court appointed special advocates volunteers week.

At this time, I'd like to invite our guests from Voices for Casa to the podium to share a few words regarding the organization.

Mayor, Vice Mayor, City Council members, on behalf of voices for Casa Children, I want to extend a uh my just heartfelt gratitude, and I'm very honored to receive the proclamation from the City of Avondale declaring uh Casa Volunteer Week from April 5th through April 11th.

Uh voices for Casa Children.

Not only am I a member of that team, um, and our commitment and mission is to ensure that every child living in foster care has a voice, has someone by their side advocating for their best interests.

But I'm also a Casa volunteer myself, and I have to share with you just how touched I am that you recognize the critical importance of that role in providing youth living in foster care with hope, a voice, and a brighter future.

So once again, thank you very, very much.

Thank you.

Proclamation for court appointed special advocates volunteer week.

Whereas Arizona's children are among our state's most precious resources, their health, safety, and well-being are fundamental to the state, sharing the same basic needs, desires, hopes, and dreams of every child, and whereas each year thousands of Arizona children enter the child welfare system due to abuse or neglect, experiencing uncertainty, instability, and a lack of consistent support during a challenging time in their young lives, and whereas the court-appointed special advocate, Casa is a trained volunteer appointed by a judge to advocate for the best interests of the children living in foster care, ensuring their voices are heard and their needs are met in court proceedings, placement decisions, and other critical areas.

And whereas Casa Volunteers provide an invaluable service, build trusted relationships with their appointed youth, advocate for stability, promote positive outcomes, and help the child hold on to their own dreams and thrive.

And whereas in Arizona, Casa Volunteers work diligently in partnership with judges, attorneys, social workers, community partners to ensure these children have support, resources, and opportunities now and in the future, and the work of Casa Volunteers has a profound and lasting impact on the lives of vulnerable children, providing them with the consistent, compassionate presence to help them restore a more hopeful future.

And whereas Casa Volunteer Week provides an opportunity to recognize and honor the dedication of the Casa Volunteers raise awareness about the urgent need for more individuals to step forward, make a difference in the lives of children in foster care.

Now, therefore, be it resolved, I, Gloria Solario, by the virtue of authority vested in me as a council member of the City of Avondale, Arizona, hereby proclaim the week of April 5th through the 11th, 2025 as Casa Volunteer Week and applaud the extraordinary contributions of Casa Volunteers.

Thank you so much.

At this time, I believe Mr.

Mayor and Council, if we go down and have pictures, maybe we could start with the bookmark winners and then go in order back to the firefighter academies.

So that way the young kids can scatter on back.

That sounds good.

Council, would you join me?

I got a new checklist.

Okay, I am number three unscheduled problem appearances.

We do have two blue cards.

We have a Caesar Romero.

Do you like to approach the podium?

No, Caesar, Mr.

Romero.

Okay.

On Saturday, April the 5th, 2025, I stepped outside of my porch to turn off the water spigot.

And I noticed that the Avondale Fire Department pickup truck was in front of my neighbors.

Neighbor's house because my neighbor had had a stroke about 11 months ago.

So when something happens, I always go make sure that he's okay.

It was my neighbor's uh she let me start over again.

She called 911.

And it was her uncle that was the one that got hurt.

A metal pipe fell on his head.

My question is, why wasn't the Avondale fire engine truck dispatched?

Not the pickup truck, the red little fire pickup truck.

Why wasn't the Avondale fire engine truck dispatched?

I know you can't answer me right now, but I expect a response at the next council meeting.

And just to let you know that the uncle had surgery Sunday morning.

And actually, um, Chief, would you mind stepping out with Teresa to discuss that?

Okay.

Would you mind speaking with the chief?

I will speak to him.

Okay.

And I want to thank you.

Thank all of you guys.

Thank you.

Okay, thank you.

Appreciate it.

Okay.

So that concludes uh item number three.

Item number four is consent agenda.

And are there any members of council who wish to have an item removed or separate consideration?

Seeing none, we have a motion from Councilmember Condi, second from Vice Mayor Nielsen.

Please vote.

Item passes.

Item number five, Ron.

Uh thank you, Mr.

Mayor and Council.

Up next, we have a presentation by Katie, our assistant city manager on the Avondale General Obligation Bond Election 2025 and a resolution ordering and calling for said election.

Good evening, Mayor, Vice Mayor, and members of the council.

I'm here tonight to present an overview of the Citizen Bond Committee evaluation and recommendation to the City Council regarding a call for a special bond election for voter authorization of up to 2023 million dollars in general obligation bonds.

I'd like to discuss our process with you.

So tonight items that will be covered will include an overview of the purpose of the committee, the role and general timeline.

We will share the results of the recent poll completed by our bond consultants, and we'll cover some of the proposed projects and property tax impacts, and then finish with the committee recommendations and next steps.

So let's begin with an overview of the bond committee.

The citizen bond committee was formed by a city council this past November and consists of nine members with the purpose to advise and make recommendations to the city council regarding the use of bond funds for future capital projects.

Members of the committee attended four meetings, all held here at City Hall, and reviewed the city's current capital improvement program, bond authorization, prior use of bond funds, property tax rates, and the proposed projects to be funded through general obligation bonds.

And before I go into too much um detail, I would like to take a minute to recognize the members of the Citizens Bond Committee, and many of them are here tonight.

I had a chance to check in with a few.

And if they would please stand when I call their name.

The committee listened, they asked very good questions and provided feedback on which projects they believed would be a priority to the residents of Avondale.

A key objective of the meeting was to identify a financing plan.

And that does not, and one that does not require any increase to the city's property tax rate, and approve and recommend a potential ballot question or questions for council consideration.

So we have a timeline.

You can see here the committee, it should be noted that in the month of February, the bond consultant did do a citizen survey or a survey, a statistically valid survey, and presented that information to our citizen bond committee in March.

They use that information to help them formulate some of their recommendations.

And tonight I do have uh Mr.

Paul Bence here.

He's a senior vice president of high ground public affairs consulting.

And he's here to share with you some of the overall uh results of the survey.

So I'll have Paul come on up.

Good afternoon, Mayor, Vice Mayor, members of the council.

My name is Paul Benson.

I'm the senior vice president of research and strategy at High Ground Public Affairs.

We do a lot of statewide regional and local polling throughout the valley, throughout the state, uh throughout several other communities in the West Valley, including Glendale, Surprise, Buckeye, as well as Goodyear.

So we've done a lot of this type of bond polling in the past.

It's a very helpful tool to give you an understanding of what your electorate is thinking and ensuring that you have accurate, reliable survey results when you help make your decisions.

So we conducted this survey, February 10th through the 13th.

It's a 400-person sample, which it's live calls, live called direct dial cell phones and called home phones, uh, and and talk to people with live operators.

It's a it's the most reliable way to get survey data, ensure that you get good results.

Uh we also 400 samples, a plus or minus margin of error of 4.9.

So if we were to do this survey 95 out of a hundred times, all of this data would be within five points of what you see here.

Uh but the key is what we talk to is off-cycle voters.

Only about 70% of the adult population is actually registered to vote in the state of Arizona.

So when you talk about high voter turnout in a presidential election or anything else, you're talking about a percentage of the adult population of the 70% who are even registered to vote.

That means three in 10 who say, of course I'm registered to vote are actually probably lying to you.

Um but what we're really looking at is of the registered voter universe when you're in an off-cycle election, you're talking about a much smaller audience.

When the president or the governor are not at the top of the ticket, you go from 70 plus percent turnout down to less than 30 percent turnout.

So a couple of things happen when we talk about an off-cycle electorate.

It trends older, so we balance our sample to ensure that the electorate looks like what we expect to show up with over half of the electorate over the age of 50.

We also balance it based on zip code and party registration to ensure that we get a reliable sample that looks like what an off-cycle election looks like.

That way we can give you accurate and unbiased information to ensure uh when you're making your decision that you're looking at all of the information ahead of you.

Uh one of the things that's a bit of great news here is we start with some warm-up questions.

Is the city headed in the right direction or the wrong direction?

70 plus percent of the electorate thinks that the city's headed in the right direction.

And that's a attributed to all the hard work, all the great proclamations, all those wonderful citizens, that everything that you did today really demonstrates to me why so many people think that the city's headed in the right direction.

And um, we've done this.

If you were to ask the direction of the country right now with the electorate, it would be in the 30% range.

If you ask the direction of the state, it would be in the 40% range.

You're in the 70% range.

Um, very high for local government.

This is among the highest that I've actually seen at 70%.

And the good news is you also have 18% that don't know.

So you could even be higher next time I come do a survey in the future, there's even an opportunity for improvement here.

But across the board, age and region, we see a strong amount of support for the direction of the city.

Um that's one of the things that we like to see when we're looking at bond proposals is trust in the city government, and you have a great deal of that.

Um in addition, what we did is we measured the municipal services, and this is on a scale of one to five.

This is the first instance you'll see of the Likert scale.

Think of it like a Yelp rating, a star rating.

So the closer you get to five stars, the better that we are.

Uh anything above three is well regarded.

Uh, in this case, we randomized and rotated, so some folks got fire and medical first, other folks got park amenities first, and we asked them to rate them.

And again, this is you know, we asking the voters just how they feel about the municipal services.

Fire and medical was number one with 73% giving that a four or a five.

Excellent or very good.

So 4.05 is a very well-regarded department.

Libraries is surprisingly high at 3.94 with 59% giving it an excellent or very good.

That speaks to a lot of the things that you've done with libraries in recent years, and speaks to uh just the overall general support you see from the community.

Police services at 3.85.

Uh sorry for my police friends in the room.

Traditionally, uh fire does a little bit better than police because fire is you know rescuing folks and police have to arrest people from time to time.

So that's a pretty standard that we see fire do a little bit better than police, but this is a very high score for police, and then park amenities at 3.80 with 65% giving it an excellent or very good.

Um what we see is recreation programs, city court services, um, and off street walking and biking paths, all do pretty well as well, um, right around that 3.5 range, which is what we like to see.

The only one that was a little bit lower than some of the others was streets and transportation and 3.16, with only 36% giving an excellent or very good.

But I will tell you, I've worked with a lot of communities, not only in the West Valley but in the East Valley and throughout in the growing suburban areas.

Transportation is one of the top issues that we see a lot, and there's a lot of concerns.

And in fact, in several communities, their score is below three.

So the fact that you have a 3.16 uh in transportation actually speaks to a generally positive view.

Of course, there's always opportunities for more streets and transportation improvements.

Uh, but we did polling for Prop 479, the half cent sales tax for transportation last year.

And I can tell you that's not an issue just unique to Avondale.

It's an issue that we see uh throughout the growing region.

Um so the next part of the survey, what we did is we actually took a variety of the potential bond projects, and we asked voters to give us an impression of those.

So, sort of the same scale that we saw on the uh municipal services.

But bear in mind the these are the descriptions we gave them.

So enhancing shade structures at park amenities across Avondale.

That's the description.

If they wanted clarification, uh, we didn't get into a discussion because this is quantitative research, so you have to give everybody the same questions.

So this is really what sounds good to the voters.

Now, bear in mind we're talking about a subset of a subset of a subset of folks.

Uh only about a quarter of these respondents have kids at home.

That's the people who are going to show up.

Uh but what we see is the number one measure that we actually tested was shade structures with at a 3.97 with 44% giving that a five.

Uh you'll see that and reflected in some of the ongoing discussion that the committee did.

And we presented this data in full walkthrough all of it with the bond committee as well.

Uh and so you'll see some of their recommendations reflected based on some of this data as well.

The joint police and fire station was the second highest issue we tested at 3.86, and developing a renovating neighborhood parks at 3.76.

Land preserve for preserving open space at 3.52.

Again, these were all very well regarded, strongly supported from the community.

And sometimes we ask the same question in a couple of different ways.

Um, you might see for some folks developing and renovating parks might be the same as enhancing shade structures.

So they, you know, they may believe to say the same thing, but this is one of the things that's really helpful with this type of data is it helps you understand that words matter and the types of discussion, adding shade boosts it up from a 34% very important to a 44% very important.

10% find it much more important when you actually mention the shade part of it.

Um improving traffic flow at uh Friendship Park, 3.52.

All of these items, the public safety operations facility, uh fire training facility with firearms qualification range, and the pedestrian bridge connecting trails along the Agua Fria River, all are at that 3.5 range.

Uh not quite as high as that first tier of items that we saw, but still a strong amount of uh voter support for these proposals as well.

And then the next set here, and these again were randomized and rotated.

Uh we just put them in the order in which they were most popular, uh, just to give you an idea.

The big takeaway here is all of the items that we tested, every proposal that we went with the exception of one, and I'll share it in just a second, uh, did incredibly well across the board.

And so what we find is voters actually have an appetite for all of these projects.

Just some come to the forefront.

Uh, and when we're talking about them, if you're going to give them a few examples in marketing materials or other things, there's there's ones that really rise to the top that people care most about.

Um, expanding police headquarters at 3.38 with 24% also did very well.

As I mentioned, there was only one that fell a little bit below the mean score, and anything above three is well regarded was constructing a covered pickleball facility.

Uh, I know the pickleball folks are very vocal.

I know they show up, they they've got their paddles in their hand, and uh you know they're as noisy as the balls that they hit.

Um that's not to say pickleball is not popular, but what what we're saying here is when you look at the other priorities, voters scored that is a lower priority uh compared to some of the other items.

But the whole idea behind this is to give people an understanding of the various programs that might be involved and give them a chance to weigh in.

It was also very helpful for when the bond committee looked at this and made some of their priority recommendations as well.

That's sort of the goal of this section.

And ultimately, what we did is measured um two ballot questions, one for parks and one for public safety.

And the parks proposal we found at 56.5% yes compared to 33% no.

Uh the definitely yes at 28% to the definitely no at 18% is very positive.

And then the probably yes at 28 to the probably no at 14% uh is two to one.

Those are strong indicators.

This is at the end of a survey, what we like to see is items in the low to 50 per low 50 to mid-50% range.

Over the course of a survey, we generally see this level of support with that margin of error that shows a chance of viability here because they could be a few points higher or a few points lower.

I'm not saying today if you place this issue on the ballot if you decided to move forward that it's going to pass with 57% of the vote.

But what this does demonstrate to us is a strong amount of viability here.

You can see across the board support, uh, both regionally as well with age uh 50 to 64 year olds, there's a little bit of a uh a plurality of support, but not quite a majority, but a majority of all the other age segments, particularly among younger voters.

On the public safety pre-test post test, we found it at 49.6, basically 50 percent yes compared to 39% no.

Still positive in the probably and definitely yeses compared to the probably indefinitely no's uh a little bit lower in basically the 40 to 64 range.

But I will say this I've done a lot of survey research a lot across a lot of cities when it comes to public safety proposals.

Traditionally, what we have seen is at a public safety proposal that when it comes to police and fire in particular, it's generally about ends up five points higher or so than what we see from the survey data.

So sometimes we in fact this is something we measure in several other West Valley cities where other proposals uh when we tested them ballot wise, the public safety would be a little bit behind, and then it ended up being the number one passage.

So in looking at these proposals, uh we think they have a strong amount of viability and a strong possibility of passage if you were to place it on the uh November off-cycle election.

And with that, before I turn it over to Katie, I'm I'm happy to answer any questions about the survey.

Thank you so much, Paul.

Are there any questions for uh by any member of council at this moment in time?

Council Mr.

Garcia.

Can we go back to where the zip codes were?

Because I think one zip code was missing from our city.

It was 85329.

85.

And maybe I missed it, but it's 85392.

Uh 29.

29.

Okay, so it's a type ball on there.

Apologies.

Oh, okay.

It's two nine, it is two nine.

It's just a type on the right.

I just want to make sure the entire city of Avendale is included.

It's the 85392 isn't 85329 is specific to cashing.

Okay.

Yeah.

So that area wasn't included.

Yeah, it is.

I didn't see so um I'll double check that.

So what we used is the actual anything that has a city council code so they can vote in a city council election.

We ensure that everybody's included in that is is part of it.

So I'll double check the zip codes there.

But uh we used every zip code that was listed, so it may not be listed there, but it's included as well.

Okay.

And anybody else.

Okay, thank you, Paul, so much.

We appreciate it.

Okay, thank you, Paul.

Um, and now I'd like to share just a little bit about some of the projects that uh this the staff shared with the committee and that they uh learned a little bit more about as far as potential projects uh over the that could potentially be done with bond funding over the next 10 years.

So I'll start with parks and recreation.

Um there were eight projects that were reviewed by the committee, uh and the members were able to get to ask a lot of questions about those and provide us some feedback.

And during our March meeting, we actually had them do a little bit of a prioritization exercise with us to try to identify um which ones kind of resonated the most.

Uh I will say that this committee was very active in their discussion on um parks, and in fact, were the ones to recommend that we go back and look at our some of our existing park facilities and see if there's some parks that could use some more renovation and include some of those because they felt that that was something our residents would really resonate with.

So we did do that, and we identified four types of projects.

The first one being um the new park shade and and shade expansion, which we talked a little earlier about.

The park and the parking improvements.

So that's kind of going back and looking at our existing parks, looking at and seeing if we can do some improvements to our existing parks, trail system improvements, which again we have significant gaps within our trails.

I'll talk a little bit about that.

And civic center library improvements.

We have a 20-year-old library that is probably due for some improvements to it.

So the first slide really talks about new park shade and shade expanse expansion, and really what the idea here is that we want to maximize the use of our beautiful parks and facilities.

And the best way to do that really is through some shade for those areas where we see people who are not engaging in those activities during the heat of the day.

And when we can't take it indoor, we definitely want to make it more comfortable for them in the park.

So place some shade over those areas.

And I will also mention that as you saw in the survey, it was it was number one in the survey, which was also interesting because it was also a number one in our parks recreation and library master plan survey.

So clearly, this is something our residents are really asking for.

Some of the uns shaded amenity amenities, such as splash pads, our spectator areas and our sports court, really kind of prevent the use throughout the day, and they compound our demand for the use of these amenities in the evenings and early morning hours.

So I on here you can see a few images.

This includes shaded spectator areas at festival fields.

This is one request that has come from a lot of users of the facility, especially those moms and dads who are watching their kids play games, and so looking at shading the spectator area there.

On the top right, you can see what I kind of call air nasiums or things large shaded things, shaded canopies that can cover basketball courts and allow for those to be shaded, and that would be like at Friendship Park.

And then we've got a couple other out here at Alamar and the one at the at uh the the uh boulevard, the splash park at the boulevard.

The second item was the parks and parking improvements, and um they really felt that it was imperative to include those, as you know, through various investments.

We have really, and in my opinion, I believe that the City of Avondale has really made significant progress in sort of setting the standard for what our parks are going to look like.

Um for that reason, um, you know, that we have done an amazing job, and that's been highly effective and beneficial for our residents, but there are still are some parks where there's some work to be done, um, and many older park properties present that opportunity for us for some improvement and modernization of these spaces to ensure that they all align with the standards that we've set.

Now, this is a picture of the city's current trail system, and as you can see, um, we get trails in a variety of ways.

Some the city has uh built over time in certain areas, and others come as development projects come through the city.

And so we sometimes see I call it sort of a scallop scallop trail where we don't always have trails that connect yet, but we're working on it.

Um, and you can see in here that there are significant gaps, and one of our primary trail arteries is the Agua Fria River.

Um, that's kind of a natural place where you want to see trail amenities.

And right now there is some limited, you know, access.

You want to make sure the access points are safe.

You want to make sure that you're avoiding conflicts with vehicles, things like that.

So you're looking at underpasses and ways to get under and around the roads.

And while we've been fortunate in some of the newer developments, as I mentioned, we do have sections of the trail built, but we've got a few gaps.

And so the idea with the bond funding is that we would want to start with working on filling in a few of those gaps at some key locations, putting in some trail heads so we have safe access to the trail, and we believe we could achieve about a six-mile continuous trail along the agua frío over the course of the of uh the 10 years with the bond fundings.

And we'd focus again on Agua Fria River towards the completion of what we see are the real final sort of regional trail connections, and that would include east-west trails as well as all the way up through the agua fria.

The last item with that with the parks and recreation was the Civic Center Library improvements.

The community identified libraries as a very high priority and amenity, a priority amenity and program type in the parks recreation and library master plan for the past 20 years.

It's served as a hub for learning, um, innovation and engagement.

And despite regular maintenance of the facility and its furnishing, and just with time, um, it really is starting to show signs of significant wear.

We have over 40,000 visitors annually in the in the library, just at the Civic Center library alone.

And we've got some critical updates, including some flooring and repainting and improving the overall space planning and security features.

So modernizing it and addressing some of the new ways that residents use the library will kind of keep us on that leading edge when it comes to library services and keep us at home here in Avondale.

So that was the Parks Recreation Library side.

The second side was the public safety side.

The Office of Public Safety presented a total of five projects from the police fire and medical and the city courts to the committee in their February meeting, and the committee members were given a chance to again provide a lot of feedback, think about the projects, learn a little bit more about why they're important, what justifies the need, all of those types of things.

And during their March meeting, they all believed that the projects were a priority and range them according to what would interest they believe would interest the residents of Avondale.

So you see that here, the Southern Avondale Fire Police substation.

For those of you who are familiar with it, this is some land that the city had dedicated through the master plan development of Alamar.

So there's a location for that, and this would be where the Southern Avondale Fire Police substation would go.

New public safety headquarters, police firearm training facility, main police station expansion, and a city court office expansion.

In the Southern Avondale Fire and Police substation would be located on that land that I mentioned, dedicated to us within the Alamar subdivision.

The facility is currently under design and it will provide greater response times for all residents by keeping the fire crews closer to their first two areas.

That's a very important component when it comes to fire services, trying to keep your fire crews within their first two, not having to extend beyond their first two area to other areas to assist.

So and it could also be our key, our main station to serve some of the major events at the raceway.

Similarly, it will include a briefing and office location for police officers to stop and do reports and to enhance their visibility within the southern portion of the city, reducing some response times and improving their overall services.

So bond funding would provide a portion of the overall costs associated with this project.

Some of it's already funded, but the bond funds would get us what we fully need in order to complete that project.

The new public safety headquarters, and again, as Avondale continues to grow, we need a plan for our needs to address space throughout the city.

You'll see this sort of as a refrain as we talk about a couple of projects here.

The new public safety headquarters is needed to centrally house the Office of Public Safety, the fire and medical administrative staff, and all of their essential support staff.

Currently, they are in the Phoenix Raceway building sharing the first floor with the IT department, and we're starting to get a little cramped for space.

We don't have appropriate corridors or things for that to get people to their offices.

They're walking through other people's areas.

And other parts of their functions are spread throughout the city hall campus, such as our safety or our campus security and things like that.

So a new building to house these important functions is needed sometime within the next 10 years.

And that's kind of the idea for this one.

We share space at the Glendale at the Gripstick, and that's their training facility.

And that requires our officers when they need to get certified or when they need to do their required trainings on firearms to a find time and find space at Gripstick in order to go there.

They have to drive to Glendale, they're in Glendale for their training, and then they have to drive back.

So the idea here is that we we don't we're not talking about a huge training facility, but at least for firearms.

We can we could create a firearm facility where our officers stay local, stay here in Avondale.

They are available to respond as needed, and it would provide them a place to really hone their skills, get the training they need and the certified and maintain all their certifications and certifications, and then thus increasing their response time and their ability to respond to incidents.

The building was designed for expansion.

We haven't completed that expansion, so the idea here is to address the space needed for some growth that we've been having as a community, and this project would complete that final build-out of the Avondale police station.

So it's that last uh phase, if you will.

And then similarly at the court facility, um, you know, our court has been the same size, and we are seeing an increase, obviously, in activities at the court.

Um, a lot of their staff or a lot of their requirements related to files, or they have they have to have big file rooms.

They have to save a lot of files because they have statutory guidelines on how long they have to have it, just like police does.

Um, you can see from some of these pictures that they're having to house staff in file rooms because they just don't have the space to put them.

Um, and those are not the appropriate places for staff to be.

Um instead, we would we would recommend that we uh build a project, uh put put a new uh possibly a two-story facility kind of in that in-between space you can see between the two buildings where um they could put some offices and um house some additional storage space for files and things like that.

So um I'm gonna turn it over to Robert to talk um our budget manager to talk a bit about the um property tax and the and the rate impacts associated with the financing plan um for bonds.

But before I do that, do you have any questions for me on projects?

Any questions for Katie?

No.

Okay, thank you so much, Katie.

All right.

I'm sorry, Ms.

Mayor.

Yes, you had one hand up.

Oh, sorry, I'd missed it.

Uh Councilman Garcia?

I know I've asked this before, but just so it's again, so when I if the bond passes, all of the projects that you spoke about right now are what will be funded through this bond.

And they we can't change the projects once it goes through.

So I'll I'll answer that question.

Yeah, the answer is generally yes.

Now some of the projects are under, you know, we're underway, like the the South Avondale fire station, and we're looking for a portion of the funding from the bond funds.

Um, but that's going to be moving forward.

But we do need to do a portion.

If we don't need it for that for whatever reason, because we have to shift funds or something like that.

Similar type facilities would be what we're looking at.

We put some dollar amounts to some of these without knowing for sure how much all these things are going to cost.

So we have a good sense, but we wanted the questions to be broad enough and the ability for us to, if there are is funding that that is available, and it's a project very close to what we're talking about, that we'd have some flexibility.

But absolutely, these are the projects for TARP.

These are the ones we want to get completed over a 10-year period.

Does that answer your question?

Yes, thank you.

Okay.

Thank you.

Thank you, Katie.

No, so thank you.

All right, good evening, Mayor, Vice Mayor, and City Council.

I have the exciting task to go through property tax.

I hope you're all excited.

Um, general obligation bonds have a direct relationship with property tax.

So first I'm gonna kind of walk through some um the basics of Arizona property tax and Arizona property taxes, a little complicated.

So your property tax bill is based off of what's called your limited assessed valuation, um, which can only grow at 5% of the year.

So there is a vast difference between what your property tax bill is based on and the market value for your house.

So, for example, here in the city of Avondale, um, the average house is a median house.

We looked it up, it's about 405,000.

Um, the prop the limited assessed valuation on that house is 160,000.

So significant variations that 5% really does not capture the amount of explosive growth we've seen in property values over the past decade.

Umce you have that limited assessed valuation, there's an assessment ratio for different types of property.

So for residential, that is 10% of that um limited assessed value.

So you take that 160,000, that um assessment ratio is 16,000, um, put brings it down to 16,000 for residential property.

There's two portions of property tax.

So there's what's called the primary property tax, and that goes towards the general fund, which funds you know um general operations of the city day-to-day operations.

And then the secondary property tax may only be used for the repayment of general obligation bond debt.

So this is the portion of property tax that is um directly impacted by general obligation bonds.

Here in the city of Avenue, we have a financial policy that's been adopted by council that says the combined property tax rate between that primary and secondary rate cannot exceed $2 per $100 of assessed valuation.

And our current property tax rate is $1.45 per $100 of net assessed valuation.

So to get put the property tax that Avondale charges in context of the total property tax.

So again, this is that median home here in Avondale of $45,000, that limited assessed valuation of $160,000 on that property tax bill.

So they're paying about $2,000 a year.

For schools are $75% of the total property tax bill.

Avondale is about $11% or about $233 of that total property tax bill.

And then you can see the county has a portion of property tax and special districts are another portion of that property tax.

But the vast majority of property tax goes towards schools.

This does not include Alamar, which would be a separate property tax for those homes in that district.

Next, this shows the debt per capita.

For the last data last year, we have that available for all our comparison municipalities throughout the valley.

So you can see Avondale is the second lowest debt per capita when compared against all the other valley jurisdictions.

So we have very low debt here in the city, both general obligation bond debt, which is that voter approved debt, and also non-general obligation debt.

So very low debt compared to a lot of other cities here in the Phoenix metropolitan area.

And then going into what is being proposed, the questions that would be potentially on the going to voters and how that would impact the property tax rate.

So our intention is that if this is approved by voters, that we would keep that property tax rate level throughout the the for um the next decade or so.

So as old debt is retired, old secondary property tax um rate would go towards that new general obligation bond debt, which is represented the green.

So you can see the property tax rate would stay the same.

We would achieve this by um looking to issue about 20 million dollars of general obligation bonds every two years for 10 to 15 years to make sure that we're keeping that rate steady throughout the time period we're looking at.

So with that, um are there any questions before I hand it back to Katie?

Questions by council?

Go ahead.

Councilmore Garcia.

Can you explain that if the bond doesn't pass how it can lower the property tax?

Yes.

So mayor, vice mayor, council.

So if the if this is not approved by voters or referred to the voters, um you can see that um that green bar that would disappear from the chart, and you could see that the property tax rate would decline um over the next decade.

So the the property tax projection would be that blue bar plus the orange bar.

So it would decrease.

Okay.

Any other questions?

Okay, thank you, Robert.

Appreciate it.

Okay, we're almost there.

Promise.

So the committee recommendation.

Um what I would uh like to just talk a little bit about was um the committee's charge was to look at projects, discuss priorities, um, and come up with a financing plan that they could forward to the council for recommendations.

So that meant they needed to look at kind of what the cost of these projects are and then look at what the overall bond package would look like.

Because when we go to the voters, we don't go to the voters with specific projects, we go to them with a uh an ask for some authorization.

I also want to know, because maybe answering a little bit more of your question, um, is that any time we are looking to sell debt, meaning we're looking to issue bond, you know, issue bond debt, we come back to council.

It's got to be part of our approved budget, number one.

So that's a point at which council can give us a sense of where the priorities are and what they want to do.

And it also has to come back to council for an approval to issue the debt.

So there are two points, even after if we got authorization.

What we're asking voters for is the authorization.

What the council does is determine when and how that gets spent.

Um and we have identified these projects.

So the count the committee um recommended two questions.

So they they look at a parks and recreation question and a public safety question.

They think we should recommend two questions to the voters.

First question would be for $68 million dedicated for projects related to parks and recreation.

Second question would be for $55 million dedicated to public safety, and again with the intent that no increase to the current property tax rate, as as uh Rob just talked about.

This is kind of how those projects fall.

You can see the two two amounts there.

And this is what a question would look like on the actual ballot.

It would look like for bond question number one for parks recreation and libraries improvements.

We're requesting voters to look to approve 68 million dollars in voter authorization to design, construct, improve, and acquire new and existing community and neighborhood parks and facilities, including shade structures, water conservation, bike and pedestrian paths and bridges, trails, recreational facilities, open space preservation, and library buildings.

So that was to your answer a little bit, Councilmember Garcia.

There's there's a lot in there, but we understand projects change and priorities change over time a little bit.

So and council has the prerogative on some of that.

Um for bond question number two, it would be for public safety improvement bonds and the amount of 55 million on authorization to design, acquire, equip, and construct fire and emergency and police facilities for the purposes of public safety and training, and to design, acquire, and construct city court facilities and improvements.

So those are the two questions that the committee is recommending we come forward with.

What is what's part of the package?

Um then we would uh there are a couple of dates that you need to be aware of.

The one would be the last date to submit any publicity pamphlet arguments is July 9th, and this would be an all-mail ballot, mail-in ballot.

So it would be a vote by mail, and the first day to cast an early ballot would be October 8th, and of course, election day is on November 4th.

So I want to kind of give you that.

And back to my earlier point.

Again, even with voter authorization and voters approving this, um, the council still has to have two, they get two bites at the apple to to determine what the priorities are and when we're gonna issue debt.

So again, the committee's role was really to learn and to understand uh about the project needs and the financing and how all that works.

And I would like to invite up um Natasha Edmonds as the committee chair to come and just provide to provide you just a little bit of an insight as to some of the um some of her insights as to how the committee went.

Tasha Good evening, Mayor, Vice Mayor, and Council members.

I would like to share a few words regarding the committee and our work over the last four months.

The Citizen Bond Committee met four times beginning in December to learn about and provide feedback on a recommendation to council for a potential fall 2025 general obligation bond election.

My understanding is it has been a long time since Avendell has held a bond election, and it was an honor to chair the committee and work alongside with other engaged citizens.

So, Mayor, we'd like to thank you for selecting us and council members for selecting us to be a part of this committee.

Each meeting, each meeting, excuse me, covered a series of topics such as financial overview, how property taxes work in Arizona, and the role of this committee.

The staff presentations were well organized, and staff encouraged us to ask questions.

We asked a lot of questions.

They also encouraged us to provide our perspective.

We gave that on each of the projects and review financing options.

We heard about the city's history with bond funds, how they have been used for past projects such as Festival Fields Park and the new detention center, and how new bond authorization, if approved by the voters, would address needed capital improvements throughout the city over the next 10 years.

We evaluated proposed projects, reviewed the survey data, and provided a citizen perspective on what projects would be meaningful for residents.

These included reinvestments in existing facilities like parks, filling in gaps along the trails, and providing adequate space and training for those who serve to keep our community safe.

We also understood that it was very important to this council that the property tax remain stable and the amount recommended does not require any tax rate increases.

As such, we have had um, excuse me, as such, we have an agreement on the recommended questions and the amounts present here tonight, and we are pleased to provide those to you for consideration.

So again, thank you, Mayor Council uh for selecting us, and a special thank you to assistant city manager Katie Gregory, budget manager Robert and Renee Parks and Recreations, public safety, and all the staff for your time and the effort and supporting and providing all the necessary details to help us.

So my co-chair, Dan Chu, and committee members.

I have two words for you.

You rock.

Thank you.

All right, we've arrived.

So I want to uh move to the recommended motion and turn this over to the council for any questions or uh deliberation.

I see there's already a motion in a second, but before we move through with the vote, I believe we may have some questions.

We'll start on that in uh Councilmember Conde, any questions or comments?

Thank you, Mayor.

Um thank you, Katie and Robert for the presentation.

Um I just really want to just say thank you to the bond committee.

You know, I know a lot of you were have families, and just the time that you guys took to come and the commitment to learn and provide your your feedback.

I just want to just say thank you because I know that's that's a lot, took a lot from you guys.

So um yeah, thank you guys.

Councilmember Garcia.

Yeah, thank you, everyone who took the time to work on this.

Um I myself are not normally vote on bonds, but I do believe that the people should be able to make that choice.

So seeing it on the ballot and letting the citizens of Avondale choose will be we'll see what happens in November.

But thank you guys so much for this presentation, taking the time to research and learn about the bonds.

Uh Councilmember Weiss.

Katie, Robert, and Paul, thank you so much for your presentations and to the bond committee.

Thank you for your time and um for your recommendations.

And I love the fact that our taxes would not increase.

So thank you again for all your hard work.

Any other members of council on this side, questions, comments?

Okay.

As you mentioned, and as other council members have alluded to, um, the heavy lift that the bond committee has uh provided to us, the information, the communication, and as uh Paul Bence mentioned as part of the information he provided to us, words matter.

And I think that that's gonna be key to that education piece for the residents here of Avondale and communicating that uh Avondale has been very good stewards of their of their tax dollars, um, which has led to um you know incredible bond ratings and other things.

And I think that that's that's to be commended by prior councils and current councils who have made those decisions and made them wisely.

Um and I appreciate all the groundwork that has been done by uh every member that's been represented here tonight.

And as Councilmember Garcia mentioned, um, I for one am really excited about this.

Um again, it is the residents' money and uh you see the priorities there.

I was very uh not shocked, but um when the information came across my desk of learning just uh about the age and the demographics and their you know plus-minus uh negative positive reactions to the questions, um, but it does demonstrate that Avondale is a young community.

And uh so I believe that many of the things that have been discussed here, including the two specific questions, uh, are related to that young and new resident that will find Avondale home uh to call home.

And so I appreciate the information.

So uh back to the oh, sorry, Vice Mayor Nielsen.

I just got uh a couple of questions here, Katie.

Ten years out inflation.

I know we don't put inflation in there, but the time comes now, we're 10 years out.

We want to go do something.

There isn't as much money because the price of the LMR's gone up or whatever.

Does that mean we re-evaluate, I assume, and see now again of these projects we've got which ones we want to keep and the bottom one goes out.

Is that how that would work?

Yeah, uh Mayor, Vice Mayor, um Nelson Nielsen.

Um the that's exactly right.

I mean, as we go along, we as you saw in Robert's presentation, um, as debt retires, that's when we would come back.

So we look at doing that in tranches as we have the as the capacity grows because our city city grows, our valuations grow, but also as that capacity is available for us to issue debt.

Um, that's when we would come back to council.

We know that over 10 years, yes, there's gonna be some inflation.

We've experienced it the last 10 significantly.

Hopefully, not as bad as the last five, but we'll we'll see.

Um but I will say that interestingly, you did have members of the committee who had the exact same question you had.

Sorry, we need to do that.

You can fix it.

And um and they asked that exact same thing.

Should we ask for more?

Should we do more?

And I think you know, our response to them was we made a commitment to the council that we would focus on maintaining that tax rate.

This is where we feel very comfortable.

They honored that commitment, and that's why the recommendation is what it is.

But that's also why there needs to be some flexibility, because we may find that something costs more.

We may also find that you have different priorities five years from now and want to look at um some other options of things that we might be able to do.

Or maybe we get grants for something and we have the ability to shift those dollars to something else, you know, so that we can do more and leverage it um even more.

The other one just wants to do that.

I can just add, sorry, Vice Mayor.

Mr.

Vice Mayor, I also want to add that uh I we do not believe that those dollars currently assigned would cover every project.

So there's an assumption already built in that many of these projects will have a combination of bond funding and then other funding sources, whether it's grant or our general fund or other uh ways to pay for things.

But we already are going into this knowing that those projects are not 100% dependent on this dollar.

So if inflation does uh creep up uh more than we plan for, we will just reprioritize uh and move.

But but we already know that um the especially the infrastructure of the buildings are are gonna be a lot more than we currently have budgeted by the time we build.

Thank you very much.

The other the comment I've got here is is education.

I know I've been involved with bonds with this with the school district, and the only thing you can do is educate, educate and educate.

You can't sway, but you can educate and have these people understand there will not be any additional funds or anything that are required.

And I think that's important.

You've got that on the map there.

Just one last one.

The it's an all mail in uh election.

Yes.

So it goes down to November 4th.

So we're gonna get them, I don't know what it was, early.

October 8th, I think it's October 8.

So you got you're gonna get those starting October 8th, November 4th.

What happens on November 4th?

They can't be brought here and dropped off.

They have to be signed and in the mail by November 4th.

Is that how that works?

I will give our uh city clerk the option to answer that question.

Thank you, Mayor, Vice Mayor Nielsen.

So the ballots will be mailed to every household on that first date.

The Maricopa County elections office typically puts one emergency ballot drop site.

Um and this is also a replacement site.

So if somebody spoils their ballot or if they just need to come and get a new ballot, um I haven't signed the contract with Maricopa County yet.

Um we are waiting on the result tonight.

But we hope that our location, which is City Hall, would be one of those emergency sites.

Um even if we weren't an emergency site, um, usually they will have it downtown Phoenix, but we will absolutely have a ballot drop box here at City Hall.

Um and so voters can come here to drop off their ballots like they do every normal election.

Um but the November 4th is the just deadline date, um, not the post date.

Um it has to be in Maricopa County hands on that date.

So our um education out to the public will be about a week before.

Um we'll do like the social media and posting.

That's where I was leading as part of this education, not uh only what's happening here, but their response on those ballots need to be in by a certain date.

They just don't sit on the table or wherever it might be for that point.

Thank you very much.

Appreciate that.

And all the work that's been done by all of you.

I will just say that uh we were on such a roll.

I did not want to mention the inflation work, but I'm I'm glad that Vice Mayor asked the question because it is something that we need to think about considering the dollar figure, and we do know that things are going to adjust.

I'm glad that members of the bond committee uh felt strongly in asking those questions as well because it is it's important.

So uh kudos to you for asking that question.

It took everything within me not to because we were doing so good, but thank you for thank you for bringing that up.

That's all we have.

So uh we have a motion from Councilmember White, second from Councilmember Solorio.

The rest of us could please vote.

Looks like we're going out.

Appreciate it so much.

Thank you for all your hard work, everyone.

I like that.

Yeah, let's give ourselves up.

Good job, Katie.

We're on the education committee, right?

Ron, next item, please.

Thank you, Mr.

Mayor Council.

Up next, we have a presentation by Christina, our senior planner with development services on a rezone request.

And for our uh members of the Citizen Bond Committee, um, you all are free to leave for the night.

Don't feel obligated to stay.

Um, but if you would like to stay and watch our next couple of presentations, feel free.

Thank you.

And if you don't mind, and I apologize I'm doing this just now, but are there any members of council that need to take a five quick five-minute break?

Okay, I'm so sorry to cut in, but I I figured by this time we're almost two hours in.

If anybody here needed a quick break.

But if we could just make it a quick five-minute break, be back at 726 and get started.

Thank you so much.

Okay, thank you so much for giving us that opportunity.

Hi, good evening, uh Vice Mayor, Vice Mayor, and Council members.

The item before you this evening is a rezone request for SJ acquisitions, industrial development, application PL24-0201.

My name is Christina Lavelle, and I'm a city planner here at the City of Avondale.

So the purpose of the public hearing is for the city council to hear the rezone request and take action.

So before you is an aerial map of the property, the site is located west of the northwest corner of 4th Street and Lower Buckeye Road.

It's currently vacant.

It has a number of abandoned outbuildings on it.

And the property was annexed into the city in 1960 and was zoned manufactured home park.

It was rezoned in 2018 to General Industrial, limited to a mini storage warehouse with ancillary RV storage, with the mini warehouse requiring conditional use per permit approval.

The condition a conditional use permit was approved in 2018.

However, the approval expired in 2022.

Okay, so these maps are provided to show the zoning and the general plan designation for the property and the surrounding areas.

So here's some photos that are provided just to show some site context.

The top photo shows the site is seen from Lower Buckeye Road.

The site is vacant, and there are some abandoned outbuildings on site.

The bottom photo shows the property as seen from Elm Lane.

So the rezone request is to modify the existing general industrial zoning that limits the uses to a mini storage warehouse with ancillary RV storage to general industrial zoning with revised conditions.

This is to allow for a light industrial development.

So this is a conceptual site plan that was provided by the applicant, and I would just like to highlight some of the required development standards in the A1 district.

So adjacent to a residential district or use, the development will require a 75-foot building setback, 35-foot landscape use buffers, and eight-foot solid tall block walls.

These are some conceptual renderings that were also provided by the applicant, and it just kind of gives you an idea of what some of the future buildings may look like.

So it's described in the city's industrial design guidelines for employment districts.

The industrial building will have the lick look and feel of an upscale office building with a mix of materials and building articulations.

So staff has analyzed the rezone request.

So rezoning the property to general industrial with revised conditions supports the goals of the general plan by allowing a wider range of employment uses that will diversify employment opportunities at the site.

A neighborhood meeting was held at the Agua Fria High School Library on February 11th, 2025.

There were two attendees aside from the applicant's team and city staff.

Discussion was primarily related to the city's plans for future road improvements along Lower Buckeye Road.

One phone call was received in opposition to the request, and the neighbor just expressed some concern about any future development that may block her view of the mountains.

A public hearing uh before the planning commission was conducted on March 19th, 2025.

The planning commission had questions regarding the definition of light industrial development and what type of activities would occur to the north portions of the site.

Staff responded that light industrial activities typically involves manufacturing and assembly of prepared materials as opposed to working with raw materials.

It also requires that all fabrication occur indoors.

But this area may be used as outdoor storage.

Planning commission voted five to zero to recommend approval of the rezone request and forward this recommendation to City Council.

Staff recommends adoption of ordinance number 200 16-0425, approving application PL 24-0201, SJ acquisitions, industrial development, subject to the stipulations found in the staff report.

That concludes my presentation.

Before we do that, this is a public hearing.

So this time I'd like to open the public hearing of Marcella.

Do we have any requests to speak on this topic?

Thank you, Mayor.

I have not received any requests to speak.

Thank you so much.

I do see that we have a motion in a second, but are there any comments from council?

I see Councilmember Conde and Councilmember Garcia.

Thank you, Mayor.

Thank you, Christina, for the presentation.

So I was on council when we approved the mini storage development.

And I know one of the conversations we had at that time was what it was going to look like from the main road.

And so I know that you said there was going to be eight-foot block walls.

Is that going to be around the whole perimeter?

Is it going to be on the front part of the structure?

Thank you, Vice Mayor, Vice Mayor, and Councilmember Condi.

So those block walls will be adjacent to the residential homes.

They will not be along Lower Buckeye Road.

So it'll be around the perimeter aside from facing Lower Buckeye Road.

So would it be the block wall and then the 75-foot setback?

How does that work?

Correct.

So there will be a I'm sorry, Mayor, Vice Mayor, Councilmember Condi.

There will be an eight-foot block wall along the perimeter of the property along the on the property line.

And then there will be a 75-foot setback to the building itself.

Okay.

So there will be a uh an area that it'll be a basically a no-build zone.

Okay.

Okay.

And then um at that time we weren't really concerned about the traffic because it was just a storage and it's you know, it had business hours of use, you can say.

So did we do a traffic study?

Was there a decel lane that um was recommended?

Mayor, vice mayor, um, council member conde.

The applicant did provide a traffic impact statement that was reviewed by staff, including our traffic engineer.

Um they did not recommend a uh deceleration lane.

Okay.

It's just my concern is because it's just a two-lane road and if we look to put this type of building there and we're gonna have possibly um office space available.

I just want to make sure that um first of all, that's that area that road is trafficked uh driven a lot in the morning during business um when people are on the way to work.

So I just want to make sure that we're mindful um of the traffic there that we're gonna have once those uh buildings become occupied.

Any other questions?

Um sidewalks.

So is the are we we're gonna be putting sidewalks before when are we gonna do that part?

Mayor, vice mayor, uh councilmember conde.

Yes, the uh applicant will uh as part of the e development that they have on site, they will be required to complete half street improvements, um, provide sidewalks and right-of-way landscaping as well.

Um I just really want to be mindful um about use and disturbing the residents as far as like if there's gonna be a warehouse, you know, if there's gonna be trucks in and out all hours of the night.

So um, city manager Ron, I was wondering if we can just be for the record, just want to put that once it's built and occupied that we kind of monitor that sound in that neighborhood.

Mr.

Mayor, Vice Mayor and Council members, uh absolutely we'll keep an eye on that uh with our code enforcement, our noise ordinances, and just in in touch with the neighbors.

I did want to add one other thing about the uh sidewalks.

Um I did read that it um they also have to add lighting to the Elm Street side, so we'll add some uh needed light to the neighborhood as well, right next to the uh the neighborhood park.

But we will keep an eye on that uh uh on noise.

Uh the current expectation is low traffic, so we'll we'll just monitor not just the noise and the activities but the traffic flow in and out.

Thank you.

Thank you, Councilmember Garcia.

You kind of took my noise apart because I wanted to add I asked earlier, but I think to specify and to visually see it, um to explain that it would look something similar to the one that's like on Eliso Philips.

Is that how it was explained to me?

But I think if the public knew kind of like a visual of what they're expecting in that area, it would I think it would help because I think that's when you're asking those questions and I visualize the other buildings, that's what I'm picturing.

But thank you.

Mr.

Mayor, Vice Mayor, Council members, uh absolutely uh if we could go back to the picture to show the renderings, possible renderings.

Um those look a lot like the ones we have on um in Felix in our industrial neighborhoods.

Um they'll be similar, probably not as much glass, but the ones going up a little further to the uh west on Lower Buckeye Road, the uh the uh data centers, um, and my guess is that our storage facility that we are considering to build a little further to the west will also be similar to this storage two-story looking type of building.

Um as uh was stated, this still has to go through design review, so they still have to uh they don't get to just tell us what it might be, they have to show us what it will be, and that'll go through a review process as well to ensure that it fits in with the neighborhood.

I know one council member had a concern that it doesn't look too out of place and then it fits with the and is respectful of the of our neighborhoods and our park.

So that will still occur.

Councilmember White.

Thank you so much.

I really appreciate the presentation.

Thank you.

I just wanted to go back one more slide, I think, where we have the um street view there.

I know lower buckeye we um understand that's gonna expand to a five-lane um through uh arterial road, but I guess I'm just concerned that um is is everything we see drawn right now gonna accommodate that or is it any any changes gonna have to be made in regards to kind of the entry and exit because I noticed that's there and I see where the sidewalk will go.

I'm just concerned that have we plotted enough space to make sure all of the plumbing, all of the piping that's gonna have to go on the ground to accommodate whatever is built here won't interrupt what we need in terms of expansion.

I'll take that real quick.

Mr.

Mayor Vice Mayor, the simple answer is yes.

I had that exact question earlier today, and our engineering and development team services says yes.

This is uh developed with the expansion of Lower Buckeye in mind.

Any other members of council?

Um my comments would be uh that all valid questions were asked by fellow council members, and based upon what I I've learned and heard from um even residents that live there in that area that they welcome the opportunity considering that um things that have happened through vacant lands, people cutting through, walking, uh different things of that nature.

I would assume that some jobs would come with this.

The fact that our mosque is across the street and even a potential um storage facility right around the corner there, because I thought about this maybe being out of place myself until I you know realize that it would be among other sites uh similar to this.

And so uh for that reason I appreciate the motion from Councilmember Weiss, a second from Councilmember Solorio.

And at this time we could all vote.

Um Marcella, does the motion have to be read?

No, Mayor.

Thank you.

Okay, please vote.

Okay, item passes.

Thank you so much for the presentation.

And thank you for the investment in Avondale to the applicant.

There you go.

Thank you.

Okay, Ron, next item, please.

Mr.

Mayor and Council, up next is a presentation discussion of the city manager's recommended budget presented by Renee, our finance and budget director.

Good evening, Mayor, Vice Mayor, and Council.

I am happy to be here tonight to present the fiscal 2026 city manager's recommended budget.

To just backtrack, um, we have presented to council in a work discussion in January, and again, a budget discussion was held in March.

We also brought forth our proposed utility rates in February and posted a notice of intent.

Um I will note that within this recommended budget, those proposed utility rates are included in in the recommended budget.

So the recommended budget package included a general fund forecast uh supplemental and CIP project details in addition to authorized positions and state budget forms.

So as we progress through each one of these budget discussions, um we are highlighting the changes from the prior version.

So tonight is just to cover some of the changes from the last version you saw in March.

Um the first being a carryover of appropriation.

So that just means we're um trueing up our estimates on what we're gonna spend this year and we're what we're planning to carry over, and you'll see that in a chart um uh in a couple slides.

Uh concert Mercado series, this was moved from ongoing to one time, which means it was previously in the budget every single year, and it was moved to just a one-time funding in fiscal 26.

Litchfield Park Police Officer FTE.

Um, I think it was actually mentioned in March that it would be starting in January.

We made an adjustment to make that so in the budget.

There was a hundred thousand dollar um increase for some project management services in IT.

There was another FTE that was um funded in the budget for fleet services preventative maintenance tech.

There were some adjustments um on the CIP side between the access portal for permitting software and special events.

And then the last one is some adjustments to the CIP report that you actually received last time.

It these items were already in the budget, but the total project budgets um were corrected in the CIP reports, and that being for Old Town Phase 4, intersectional improvements at Avondale Boulevard and MC 85, as well as the DISAR water road line and pressure reducing valve.

So looking at our general fund forecast, which has been updated, um, just to reaffirm within the recommended budget that uh it is structurally balanced with our revenues exceeding um our expenses.

Um again, we've talked about the reasons for those um reduced gaps there of surplus was the loss of the residential rental um sales tax revenue.

Um again, I will note um that we do not have embedded in our forecasts some potential revenues from um from the data center projects.

Um so as we look at our funding balances, um I'll point that out as well.

Looking at our one-time expenditures, here you would see that peak moves from fiscal 25, it's moving into 26.

So again, all the carryover for the projects that would be finished in the coming year.

And then lastly, the general fund forecast fund balance.

So again, these numbers are after stabilization and capital reserve.

For those that are not aware in the public, stabilization is a total of 35% of the prior year budget.

And for capital reserve, we have a set aside of another $5 million to make adjustments as needed throughout the year.

So we are projecting to have a general fund balance of uh 103.6 million at the end of this fiscal year.

And again, that peak that you just saw on the previous slide, the spending down of capital.

We do plan to spend down those balances.

So the forecast for the general fund out in fiscal 2030 is sitting at 4.6 million.

So again, that's a positive balance beyond reserves.

And we feel comfortable with this budget because if we feel like there's any turn downturn between now and fiscal 23, we have the ability every single budget cycle to make adjustments to decisions on funding, as well as our CIP plan.

To just give an overview of these highlights, um, a lot of which you you have seen um in the March discussion was with the priority of economic development.

We do have an FTE for business development manager as well as 1.2 million appropriated for the economic opportunities fund and some funding for business attraction.

In parks and rec, we have funded the youth summer camp as an ongoing expense.

Um we talked about concert marcado mercado and event services.

Um we do have an additional um park supervisor and administrative assistant that was uh actually funded and started this fiscal year carrying over into fiscal 26 as well as some inflationary increases for utilities and operational expenses.

In public safety, we have two FTEs for police officers.

Those are overhires, so what that means is we give the authority to hire those positions, but they're basically funded out of vacancy savings.

The forensic interviewer and clinical supervisor um were two positions in the family advocacy center, and the community services officer, as well as a fire fleet technician, and some overtime was included for um for the purpose of fire training.

Within connected communities, we do have the contribution assistance program in at 200,000.

We have uh a special events software as well as continued improvements in our planning and permitting software.

In services, we have funding for the WeRIDE program.

So this additional funding is inflationary and is sustaining current service levels.

Um there were no um expanded services.

There's uh senior service bus as well as some AI software and an FTE for a traffic control inspector.

And then lastly, on personnel, we did um add a total of 20.5 FTE.

We did include a 2% merit increase, a 3% COLA, and have also incorporated increases related to the compensation study that was been completed.

So with that, the upcoming actions for the budget would be to return on May to present the tentative budget for the city.

Um again, the utility rates will also be brought back for your consideration that night.

Um as I mentioned, those proposed rates are included in this version of the budget.

So one thing to note when the tentative budget is adopted, that sets the expenditure limit for this city.

So we can still make changes in the final budget that is adopted.

We just cannot increase it beyond that point.

We will also be bringing forth the Alamar CFD tentative budget for adoption from the Alamar CFD board.

We have some public notices for truth and taxation, and then plan to have the final budget hearing and the final adoption for both the city and the Alamar CFD in June, along with the chief fiscal officer designation, the pension funding policy is and the city's financial policies, and then we'll return to set the property tax limit.

So this concludes my presentation, and I will take any questions you may have.

Council regarding the information.

No.

Okay.

Thank you for all the updates.

We appreciate it.

Look forward to hearing more in me.

Thank you.

Okay, next item is a summary of current events.

Does anybody on council have anything to share?

Kate.

Councilmember White.

Thank you so much.

As a member of Valley Metro Board, I had the opportunity last Saturday night to attend the Women in Transportation Scholarship event.

And I was just very pleased to see the Northwest extension to Metro Center got acknowledged for its design locally and nationally.

But we got we took home an award for that.

As well as Jessica Metford Miller, the mayor of the City of Phoenix, Kallego, and their teams, both at Valley Metro and also the City of Phoenix got recognition.

So I was really proud to be a board member and be able to sit through that awards ceremony and see so many successful women in transit.

Thank you.

Thank you for your service on that.

Any other council members?

Councilmember Royce.

I'd like to just call out uh Martina and David who are in the audience right now.

Um I had the opportunity to go to Donnie Hale Park this Saturday for a cleanup.

And I just want to thank you guys for all you do for the community.

Cashin has heart and all the stuff that you did to help set up that cleaning.

And we had a lot of volunteers.

It was great.

Wonderful way to spend the morning.

It was great morning.

That's it.

Councilmember Garcia.

I was gonna say the same thing.

But um it was awesome to see how many people showed up to clean.

Um my back still hurts from bending over and picking up trash for about two hours, but I'll be fine.

Um but then I came um to the civic center to see uh people drop off stuff, and I was trying to pick up computers and printers because so many people got rid of them, and I guess people don't have want them in their homes anymore.

Um but there was this weekend and this upcoming weekend, there's so many events in Avondale.

And I was telling um my friend, because she's like, What are you doing?

I go, There's so much to do in Avondale that if you don't actually pay attention, you'll miss it.

Um I took Ryan to Steam the Steam Fest and he got to do his fingerprints, and maybe I'll tattoo those on my on myself now because they came out so well.

Um it was just so nice to see the city active this weekend and then this weekend, upcoming weekend again.

It's gonna be just insane.

So, like um, if you know neighbors that don't know about things going on, I hand it out um to all the kids in my park in my neighborhood for Kid Fest.

I gave them flyers, I gave my neighbors flyers.

Um, so definitely invite people and let them know that these events are happening because it's just amazing to be able to do these things for free.

So thank you, everyone that helps and does all of this stuff in the city.

Okay.

Uh last week I had the opportunity to, or two weeks ago attend uh the Caesar Chavez uh dinner, uh, which was great to uh and I know that Councilmember Soloria was there as well.

And um just you know, all of the individuals that were um focused and and honored that evening uh for the West Valley Foundation.

It was awesome.

Last weekend, in addition to uh the uh Donnie Hill event in here uh with the drop-off event for the community.

I also had the opportunity to attend the resource fair with uh NFS, Chris and his team.

Great job.

Big turnout.

I got there 17 minutes.

I walked, I looked at the clock, 17 minutes after 10, which is when it started, and it was already packed.

Um so I don't know what it would happen after that, but I know that it was an awesome opportunity.

Then last but not least, Avon Dill Toyota continues to amaze me as uh as a contributor to this community as a hosted a uh car show uh by many members of the of the region, other cities here in the West Valley, and um use utilize staff to take uh significant part of their inventory and displace it to another part of the facility so that the car show could take place within their property lines.

Um they also uh had a couple of food trucks and an ice cream truck and many other things that they did not charge to the community for.

So it was all it was a free event.

Uh and I thought that was amazing and and wonderful uh in partnership with and helping to benefit the Westside Recreation Program uh that is run by Judge Pep Guzman.

So a lot of busy things, as you mentioned, uh a lot of things that have happened and will continue to happen.

And if that's it, I can get a motion for adjournment.

I see everybody racing really quickly.

We got a motion from Councilmember uh White.

Sorry, a second from Councilmember Garcia.

We could all vote.

Thank you so much for hanging in there, staff.

We appreciate you.