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OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD

Record of Proceedings

Eloy City Council Budget Work Session – May 19, 2025

Meeting Portal — Monday, May 19, 2025

BodyEloy, Arizona

SessionMeeting Portal

DateMonday, May 19, 2025

StatusFILED

Video Record

0:00 / 1:54:14

Transcript — VerbatimClick a timed line to jump · ⧉ to share it

0:00

Councilmember Garcia.

0:02

Present.

0:03

Councilmember Galindo.

0:05

Here.

0:06

Mayor Sutton.

0:08

I am here.

0:09

Thank you.

0:09

So at this time, we would like to stand for the Pledge of Allegiance.

0:14

And a moment of silence, and I will lead the pledge.

0:49

All right, before we get started tonight, I do have a message for council and city staff that are here right now.

0:56

At Toltec Elementary School, at time of release, a bomb threat was called in.

1:02

The school immediately went into lockdown mode.

1:06

And on site, we have four county.

1:09

We have four DPS units, five EPD units, and bomb squad from a DPS are on site right now.

1:19

There is a patrol presence and drone Delta One has been deployed.

1:25

Most or by this time, all the students have been evacuated safely from the school.

1:30

The school will now go into a search.

1:34

We have school staff and law enforcement will search the grounds, and we still have units from EPD and others patrolling the area as a deterrent.

1:47

More if anything else unfolds during this meeting, we will update you as needed.

1:52

Thank you.

1:54

I would say questions, but I don't have any answers.

1:57

So all right.

2:01

Any public appearances.

2:09

With that, Mr.

2:10

Brian Wright will give his budget presentation.

2:13

This is more or less a follow-up of what we all went through when we sat with Mr.

2:18

Wright in our groups.

2:20

He's just gonna update a few items that have changed.

2:23

We all know this is a budget and things will change.

2:25

It's a very fluid situation.

2:28

So we'll keep things moving right along.

2:32

Mr.

2:32

Wright.

2:34

Thank you, Mr.

2:34

Mayor, uh members of the council, staff.

2:38

Um, tonight what I've done, and I've handed out to everybody at up at the DIS this little thing, this budget outline.

2:45

I'm kind of gonna follow the the script.

2:48

I'm gonna go over the kind of the key highlights, personnel, some of the operational highlights, but then starting on the um third page where it starts special revenue, you'll see some items highlighted in yellow page numbers.

3:03

I'm just gonna follow that script so in your budget book, you can go okay.

3:07

I'm gonna say I'm gonna go to page 38, talk about special streets fund, and then if I talk about the any of the uh uh changes they're highlighted in blue, the significant changes, you can turn to that page in the budget book and I'll address those.

3:26

So just to give you the kind of the layout of that.

3:30

Um at any time, please ask questions.

3:33

Uh Mr.

3:34

Mayor, what I'll end up doing is when I finish uh like for example I'll start on the streets budget.

3:39

When I do that, I'll say and I go through everything, I'll say any questions.

3:45

I hear none, then I'll get on to the to the next department.

3:49

Thank you.

3:49

There's you know, to try to keep things going on.

3:52

Um at any time we mentioned uh it's starting maybe right after the special revenue funds.

3:58

We're all through with those taking a five to ten minute break because then when we get in the general fund departments, it's about the same number as the the special revenue funds.

4:08

So we'll go through that, but um kind of to go through this is uh on the this budget for 2526.

4:18

The overall budget is 115 million six hundred and forty-five thousand three hundred and twenty-five dollars.

4:26

Yes, that is a large budget.

4:28

That's actually a 40 million three hundred and seventy-nine thousand nine and ninety dollars, which is a 53.65 percent increase over last year's budget in 2425, which was just over 75 million.

4:42

This budget encompasses a lot.

4:45

Uh the general fund is the primary uh driving factor or fund in this, and that budget is about just over 40 million.

4:55

Enterprise funds, which is water, sewer, and trash, that's just about 27 million dollars, 27.2.

5:03

The special revenue funds, those those are made up of anywhere from our grants to capital projects to impact fees to special funds from court police, those make up about 47 uh 47.9 million.

5:18

And then the perpetual care fund, that's our fund that is used for that's right after the cemetery's closed.

5:26

We don't receive any more.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting

Budget Equity Analysis████████████████████████████████████████40%

Public Safety███████████11%

Water And Wastewater Management█████████9%

Economic Development████████8%

Solar Energy Development█████5%

Community Engagement█████5%

Procedural███3%

Sanitation Management███3%

Parks and Recreation███3%

Summary of Proceedings

The Eloy City Council held a Budget Work Session on May 19, 2025, to review the proposed Fiscal Year 2025-2026 budget. No unscheduled public appearances were made. The meeting opened with a detailed report from Police Chief Ben Alice on an afternoon bomb threat at Toltec Elementary School. Finance Director Brian Wright then presented a comprehensive overview of the $115.6 million tentative budget, which was followed by a fund-by-fund review and discussion. The council provided direction for several budget adjustments ahead of formal adoption.

Discussion Items

Bomb Threat at Toltec Elementary School

Police Chief Ben Alice reported that a bomb threat was called into the school around 4:00 p.m. The school entered lockdown before being evacuated near release time.
Multiple agencies responded: Eloy PD (5 units, plus drone), DPS (4 units and a bomb squad), and the Pinal County Sheriff's Office (4 units), totaling 12–15 units.
All students and staff were safely evacuated. A search of the campus took 45 minutes to over an hour; no devices or explosives were found.
Chief Alice confirmed there would be additional police visibility at the school the following morning and for an after-school event.
Mayor Sutton and the council expressed gratitude for the swift, multi-agency response.

Fiscal Year 2025-2026 Proposed Budget Overview

Finance Director Brian Wright presented the tentative budget, highlighting the city's financial strategies and priorities.
Total Budget: $115,645,325, a 53.65% increase over the FY 24-25 budget of $75.2 million.
General Fund: ~$40 million.
Enterprise Funds (Water, Sewer, Trash): ~$27.2 million.
Special Revenue Funds: ~$47.9 million.
Capital Projects: 79 projects totaling $32.2 million.
Reserve Usage: The budget uses $18.6 million from General Fund reserves for water/wastewater capital projects, a new Economic Development Incentive Fund ($5M), and WIFA loan payoffs ($2.4M). An estimated uncommitted fund balance of ~$16.2 million is projected.
Personnel: 141.1 FTEs. Includes a 4% COLA, increasing the minimum wage to $14.90, a new clerical specialist position, and converting two part-time recreation leaders to one full-time position.
Taxes & Fees: Property tax rate of 0.9769 per $100 valuation. Water/sewer rates include an 11% increase effective November 1.

Fund-by-Fund Review and Council Discussion

Streets & Transportation

Streets Fund budget: $4.4 million. Includes chip sealing of Toltec Road and pavement preservation projects.
Street Impact Fees: ~$1.15 million. A portion may be used for the Ropes Road project.

Water & Wastewater

Water Fund: $8.5 million. Major projects include a new well (Well 3), solar at the blue tank, and the Houser water line project.
Wastewater Fund: $15 million. Includes $7.5 million for a new gravity main from the treatment plant to 11 Mile Corner.
Sanitation Fund: $3.7 million. Features a new hauling contract with WM (formerly Waste Management).

Economic & Community Development Fund (Food Tax)

Budget: $2.42 million. Projects include the Shed Road median, general plan update, and housing feasibility study.
Unallocated balance: ~$800,000. Councilmember Varasca and Vice Mayor Tarango proposed using some of these funds for a community mural.
Council discussed using this fund for planning the 2026 U.S. 250th Anniversary celebration. Councilmember Galindo inquired about budget capacity and private donations. Mr. Wright recommended utilizing the food tax fund for FY 25-26 planning and establishing a donation fund through the Grants Fund for private contributions.

Grants Fund

Budget: $12.8 million, including $5 million for the Sunland Gin project and capacity for other grants.
Councilmember Galindo asked about the city's ability to meet grant matching requirements. Mr. Wright confirmed the city can budget for matches, stating, "On grants, I'm not gonna turn away a grant just because we're gonna have to do a 30% match because that means 70% match, we're gonna get free."

City Manager & Attorney

City Manager Budget: $565,660. Includes $133,000 to update the city's Emergency Response and Recovery Plan (last revised in 2006).
Legal Budget: $164,845 (flat). Councilmember Curtis noted that City Attorney Cooper was not given a raise in his six-month review. Mayor Sutton and the council agreed to add a line item for a potential salary adjustment, to be offset by a reduction in the General Fund contingency.

Police & Public Safety

Police Admin: $1.96 million. Includes a new Support Services Supervisor position and $85,000 for Flock camera subscriptions.
Field Operations: $4.25 million. Includes increased ammunition costs for training.
Smart & Safe Fund: $195,000. Will be used to repay the General Fund for the purchase of the old housing authority building.

Animal Control

Budget: $200,000, no increase. Current spending is significantly under budget at roughly $96,000 annually.
Council expressed interest in increasing the frequency of the mobile spay/neuter clinic. Chief Alice noted the PD is working more actively with Animal Control to coordinate these visits.

Recreation & Community Services

Budgets were reviewed for Community Services Admin, Parks Maintenance, Recreation Programs, Library, Facilities, GIS, Vehicle Maintenance, and Public Works Admin.
Recreation Programs budget reflects a shift in part-time personnel and increases for holiday events and community activities.

Key Outcomes

Bomb Threat Closure: The threat was resolved safely with no injuries or device found. Enhanced police patrols were arranged for the following school day.
Tentative Budget Adoption: The council will formally consider and adopt the tentative budget (including Schedules A-G) at the next regular meeting on June 9, 2025. Modifications can be made until that date.
City Attorney Compensation: Council directed staff to account for a potential salary adjustment for the City Attorney within the legal budget, offset by the General Fund contingency.
250th Anniversary Funding: Council directed staff to utilize the Economic & Community Development (Food Tax) fund for planning costs in FY 25-26 and to establish a dedicated donation fund in the Grants Fund to accept private contributions.
Council Appreciation: Council members praised Finance Director Wright and his team for a well-organized, readable, and comprehensive budget presentation.
Adjournment: The work session was adjourned following the conclusion of the budget review.

Meeting Transcript

Councilmember Garcia. Present. Councilmember Galindo. Here. Mayor Sutton. I am here. Thank you. So at this time, we would like to stand for the Pledge of Allegiance. And a moment of silence, and I will lead the pledge. All right, before we get started tonight, I do have a message for council and city staff that are here right now. At Toltec Elementary School, at time of release, a bomb threat was called in. The school immediately went into lockdown mode. And on site, we have four county. We have four DPS units, five EPD units, and bomb squad from a DPS are on site right now. There is a patrol presence and drone Delta One has been deployed. Most or by this time, all the students have been evacuated safely from the school. The school will now go into a search. We have school staff and law enforcement will search the grounds, and we still have units from EPD and others patrolling the area as a deterrent. More if anything else unfolds during this meeting, we will update you as needed. Thank you. I would say questions, but I don't have any answers. So all right. Any public appearances. With that, Mr. Brian Wright will give his budget presentation. This is more or less a follow-up of what we all went through when we sat with Mr. Wright in our groups. He's just gonna update a few items that have changed. We all know this is a budget and things will change. It's a very fluid situation. So we'll keep things moving right along. Mr. Wright. Thank you, Mr. Mayor, uh members of the council, staff. Um, tonight what I've done, and I've handed out to everybody at up at the DIS this little thing, this budget outline. I'm kind of gonna follow the the script. I'm gonna go over the kind of the key highlights, personnel, some of the operational highlights, but then starting on the um third page where it starts special revenue, you'll see some items highlighted in yellow page numbers. I'm just gonna follow that script so in your budget book, you can go okay. I'm gonna say I'm gonna go to page 38, talk about special streets fund, and then if I talk about the any of the uh uh changes they're highlighted in blue, the significant changes, you can turn to that page in the budget book and I'll address those. So just to give you the kind of the layout of that. Um at any time, please ask questions. Uh Mr. Mayor, what I'll end up doing is when I finish uh like for example I'll start on the streets budget. When I do that, I'll say and I go through everything, I'll say any questions. I hear none, then I'll get on to the to the next department. Thank you. There's you know, to try to keep things going on. Um at any time we mentioned uh it's starting maybe right after the special revenue funds. We're all through with those taking a five to ten minute break because then when we get in the general fund departments, it's about the same number as the the special revenue funds.

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