Phoenix City Council Meeting - March 18, 2025: Budget, CIP, and TPT Tax Increase Vote
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Phoenix City Council Meeting - March 18, 2025: Budget, CIP, and TPT Tax Increase Vote
The Phoenix City Council met on March 18, 2025, to discuss the five-year Capital Improvement Program (CIP), the trial budget for fiscal year 2025-26, and to vote on a proposed increase to the Transaction Privilege Tax (TPT) and use tax. The meeting featured presentations from budget staff, public testimony, and council deliberation, culminating in an 8-1 vote to adopt the tax increase.
Consent Calendar
No consent calendar items were listed or discussed.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Alisa Lyons (Valley Partnership): Expressed support for the TPT increase, stating certainty in the development process could be eroded without it.
- Brian Willingham (United Phoenix Firefighters Association, Local 493): Urged support for the tax increase, highlighting firefighter burnout, cancer, and mental health issues, and thanked the council for their courage.
- Ann Ender (Operation Blue Ribbon): Supported the increase, asking that funding be directed to the Phoenix Fire Department.
- Maggie Acosta (District 7 resident): Supported the tax to maintain parks, libraries, and city services, noting it is a small price to pay.
- Stan Bates (District 1 resident): Supported the increase to maintain public safety, sharing personal experiences with the fire department.
- Patrick McDaniel (Phoenix Committee Alliance): Expressed support for the TPT adjustments as necessary due to state actions.
- Orla (speaker): Opposed the tax, arguing the fire department crisis has been used as an excuse and that the city should prioritize public safety over other spending like shade trees and pools.
- Darren (Take Back Our Homes): Supported the tax increase to fund right to counsel for eviction prevention.
- Rick Naymark (District 7 resident): Supported the shift from rental and income taxes to sales tax to maintain services.
- Ari Barung Huber (Unite Here Local 11): Shared a personal story of a house fire and supported the tax for fire and other city services.
- Andrea Luna (Take Back Our Homes): Supported the tax to fund eviction legal aid and a right to counsel program.
- Sebastian Bortillo (Take Back Our Homes): Supported the TPT, noting it is necessary due to state politics, and advocated for eviction prevention funding.
- Victoria Stahl (Unite Here Local 11): Supported the tax, recalling childhood use of city pools and community centers.
- Margaret Schultz (Worker Power): Supported the tax to maintain public transit and other services.
- Evelyn Castillo (Take Back Our Homes): Supported the tax for eviction prevention and shared a personal story of homelessness.
- Miesha Fish (Take Back Our Homes): Supported the tax, recounting a traumatic eviction experience.
- Stacey Towell (Ocateo Glenn Community Alliance): Supported the tax to continue the gated alley program for safety and cleanliness.
- Christina Gallagher Funida (North Glenn Square Neighborhood Association): Supported maintaining current service levels through the tax increase.
- Linda Blackford (Block Watch leader): Supported the tax to continue the gated alley program.
- Ivan Valley (longtime resident): Supported the tax to protect basic services.
- Mike Nidas (retired city employee): Supported the tax to maintain street maintenance, tree planting, and gated alleys.
Discussion Items
- Five-Year Capital Improvement Program (CIP): Budget Research Director Amber Williamson presented the $11.5 billion CIP, including $2.5 billion for next fiscal year, covering nearly 1,000 projects such as water infrastructure, parks, and the 2023 GO bond program ($500 million). The presentation was informational; adoption will occur in late May/June.
- Trial Budget (Fiscal Year 2025-26): City Manager Jeff Barton and Amber Williamson outlined a $39 million deficit due to state actions (flat income tax, elimination of rental tax). Proposed strategies included a TPT increase from 2.3% to 2.8%, use of excise tax proceeds for public safety capital, $24 million in department reductions (no filled positions or direct service impacts), and $34 million in additions—primarily for the Fire Department (134 sworn personnel, 19 civilian positions) and $4.5 million for Homeless Solutions. The deficit would be closed with $17 million surplus set aside for future years. The budget process includes community hearings and adoption in June.
- TPT Tax Rate Increase (Ordinance G7369): The council held a public hearing and debated the ordinance. Council members expressed support, citing state revenue losses and the need to maintain services. Councilman Waring voted no.
Key Outcomes
- Vote on Ordinance G7369: The ordinance to increase the TPT and use tax rate from 2.3% to 2.8% effective July 1, 2025, was adopted by a vote of 8-1 (Councilman Waring opposed).
- Trial Budget Next Steps: The trial budget will be presented to the community at 12 budget hearings. The city manager's proposed budget will be presented on May 6, 2025, with council decisions on May 20, tentative adoption June 4, final adoption June 18, and property tax levy adoption July 2.
- Fire Department Investments: The budget includes $25 million in new resources to reduce emergency medical response times from 8 minutes 30 seconds to 4 minutes 25 seconds in targeted areas, plus funding for new stations and personnel.
- Housing Trust Fund: Mayor Gallego highlighted a priority to establish a housing trust fund in partnership with Councilwoman Hodge Washington, though no specific funding amount was set in the trial budget.
Meeting Transcript
Second graders at Sun Valley Academy in South Mountain for Read Across America Day. It was one, it's actually one of the fun things that we get to do in this role. It was heartwarming to inspire young minds and encourage a love of readers. And I I recommend if you haven't done it to definitely read to our next generation. It is fulfilling in many ways. I also had the opportunity to travel to DC where I met with our congressional delegation as part of the NLC to advocate for important issues affecting not just District 8, but the City of Phoenix as a whole. These conversations are critical for securing resources and support for our community. Amongst the topics of discussion include our advanced water purification, our infrastructure needs, our public safety needs, housing and homelessness support, as well as the need to desire the desire that municipal bonds remain tax exempt as they serve as an important function for us in finance and tools. Next slide. Last night we had the pleasure of hosting our Logan Corby alongside Councilman Glenda Alvira. And I also want to thank the representatives from Parks and Recreation, Office of Homeless Solutions, Community and Economic Development, and our Phoenix Police Department, and to the residents who attended and received these updates and information from our presenters. We continue to do events like this because we want to ensure that our community remains informed. Next slide. If you have not already and you're interested in bringing a community event to light, and you need a little financial support, please submit the application by March 31st. Spread the word and don't miss this opportunity. And then last slide. Our community partners were recognized, including the Sagrata Galleria, Coel Sheller, and the Architectural Resource Team. And in particular, I want to highlight our 2024 heat relief plan, which took home one of the big awards of the evening. I'm proud of the incredible cross-departmental team that includes Office of Emergency Management, FIRE, Office of Homeless Solutions, Office of Heat Response and Mitigation, Libraries, and more who work to improve our heat efforts year over year. According to the County Public Health Heat Death numbers released that week, our increased efforts have resulted in the first decrease in heat related deaths in a decade. We still have a lot more work to do, but it is valuable to understand and track those numbers. In Phoenix, target we targeted extended hour cooling centers in our first ever 24 hour cooling centers in areas with the highest heat related emergency calls. We saw a reduction in heat related calls last summer as a result, despite record breaking heat. We've already been planning for this coming summer. At next Tuesday's policy meeting, we'll discuss the 2025 heat relief plan. I want to thank my colleagues on the city council for your leadership and commitment to the issue. And I'm proud our investments are delivering results and saving lives. Thank you to Jeff Barton, your management team, and all of the hardworking staff for your work to keep our residents safe and comfortable in our summer heat. Again, we got more work to do, but I am grateful to our professional staff for identifying important solutions and every year working to get better in that area. Lastly, I want to thank MAG, Maricopa County, and our partners community wide who support cooling centers and connecting residents with life-saving resources. Thank you. Any additional comments before we move to the next item? Great. Then I will we will go to agenda item one, and I will turn it over to our city manager Jeff Parton. We have several agenda items today, and we'll begin with the five-year capital improvement program. Mayor, members of the council, uh, good afternoon, and thank you for this opportunity. I'm going to turn it immediately over to our budget research director, Amber Williamson, and deputy budget research director Chris Fazio, who will walk you through our five our 11.5 billion dollar five-year capital improvement program. This is kind of like our roadmap and investments and infrastructure across the city over the next five years, which also I want to highlight includes the 500 million dollar GEO bond program that was passed by voters in 2023. Chris. Good afternoon, Mayor and Council. The CIP is the city's infrastructure budget. The proposed program includes $11.5 billion across five years, including two and a half billion next fiscal year. Across all departments, the CIT CIP contains nearly a thousand projects, including the 2023 bond program. Breaking this down by funding source, 180 million dollars is proposed from the general fund, 387 million in geobonds, which is the balance of the 500 million dollar program, less what's anticipated to be spent through this fiscal year. 2.3 billion in special revenue funds such as highway user revenues, 2.8 billion dollars in enterprise funds like water and airport revenues, $3.3 billion in other bond funds such as water and wastewater debt, and $2.6 billion in other capital funds like development impact fees. To touch on the Geobond program in November 2023, voters approved four bond questions, totaling 500 million dollars. The preliminary CIP reflects the bond proje projects recommended by the Citizens Bond Committee that were presented to City Council in December 2022. At this early point in the program, we're not yet recommending any adjustments between projects. A detailed breakdown of the bond program projects is provided in Schedule 7 of the preliminary CIP document available online. The Phoenix.gov slash bond site will also periodically be updated with project status updates.
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