[0:00] And I'll have Vice Mayor Henry Wade, lead us in the pledge of allegiance. So we'll do a moment of silence since Pastor David Anderson is stuck on 347, pray for him as well. All right, just a moment of silence.

[0:19] Thank you very much.

[0:37] Thank you very

[0:43] much.

[0:45] Thank you to Vice Mayor Henry Wade.

[0:47] Thank you.

[0:47] We appreciate that.

[0:49] Let's go to the roll call.

[0:50] Please councilmember Gettel, councilmember Norm.

[0:54] Councilmember Leerman.

[0:57] Councilmember Marsh.

[0:59] Councilmember Manfredi.

[1:01] Vice Mayor Wait.

[1:02] Mayor Smith.

[1:03] Madam Mayor, we have a form.

[1:05] Thank you very much.

[1:06] That'll next take us to section on

[1:08] Proclamation,

[1:09] acknowledgments, awards and presentations.

[1:12] And we have two Proclamations and some

[1:15] wonderful awards to give away today.

[1:17] So, I'll come down and the first will be mental awareness.

[1:21] Did you want to join me?

[1:23] Okay.

[1:23] What are you saying?

[1:37] All right.

[1:37] I'd like to invite a Brianna Rinehold.

[1:42] Is she here?

[1:42] She's stuck on 347.

[1:44] Oh, that's right.

[1:50] Brianna is from Northern Lights Therapy.

[2:06] Whereas, mental health awareness month has been observed in May since 1949,

[2:11] and provides an opportunity to raise awareness about mental health,

[2:15] reduce stigma and educate the public about the importance of mental well-being and whereas mental

[2:23] health affects all individuals regardless of age, race, gender or socioeconomic background

[2:29] and one in five Americans experiencing mental health condition each year.

[2:34] Yet many do not seek the health they need and whereas mental health conditions including

[2:39] anxiety, depression, and substance use disorders can have significant effects on individuals,

[2:47] families, and communities. But they can be treated, managed, and prevented through timely intervention

[2:53] support and education. And whereas it is essential to recognize that mental health is an

[2:59] integral part of overall health and well-being, and that promoting mental wellness contributes to

[3:05] driving of individuals and the community as a whole.

[3:09] And whereas the City of Maricopa is committed to creating a supportive environment that

[3:13] fosters mental well-being, promotes access to mental health services, and ensures that every

[3:19] resident has the opportunity to live a fulfilling and healthy life.

[3:23] And whereas during mental health awareness month, we recognize the importance of open discussions

[3:29] about mental health, offer support to those struggling with mental health issues and encourage

[3:35] those in need to seek help and support from professionals, loved ones, and community resources.

[3:42] And whereas the City of Maricopa acknowledges the valuable contributions to mental health

[3:47] professionals, caregivers, advocates, and organizations who are dedicated to improving mental

[3:54] health services and promoting mental well-being across the community.

[3:59] Now, therefore, I Nancy Smith, Mayor of the City of Maricopa, do hereby proclaim the month

[4:04] of May 2025 as mental health awareness month in the city of Maricopa and encourage all residents

[4:11] to learn more about mental health, reduce stigma, and support those affected by mental

[4:16] health conditions and contribute to the well-being of our community.

[4:21] Thank you.

[4:35] All right, this next group is a big group of people.

[4:37] First, I'm going to ask councilmember Norr to join me.

[4:41] And then call up our fire representatives, police representatives, be awesome representatives, boys and girls club, global water and exceptional community health.

[4:53] And Maricopa Seals.

[4:55] Yeah, very good.

[4:57] Come on up.

[5:11] There you go. Whereas, water-related activities are enjoyed by residents of all ages in the city of Maricopa, including swimming, boating, and plain impulse and splash pads. And whereas, water safety education is essential to preventing drownings and water-related injuries, which occur quickly and often silently. And whereas, drowning remains a lead cause of accidental death among young children. And many of these treasures,

[5:41] are preventable through increase awareness, supervision, and education.

[5:47] Whereas, the City of Maricopa is committed to promoting the health, safety, and

[5:51] well-being of its residents by supporting water safety efforts in collaboration with local

[5:56] schools, swimming structures, first responders, and community organizations.

[6:02] And whereas, National Water Safety Month observed in May, serves as an opportunity to

[6:08] I like the importance of learning to swim, designating water

[6:12] watchers, wearing life jackets, and following the water safety

[6:16] rules in all environments.

[6:19] Now, therefore, I Nancy Smith, mayor of the city of

[6:21] America, do hereby proclaim the month of May 2025 as

[6:27] national water safety month.

[6:29] In the city of America, I encourage all residents to

[6:32] participate in water safety programs and take steps to

[6:36] protect their loved ones around all bodies of water.

[6:57] And I'm going to invite Councilmember Norris,

[7:00] say a few words.

[7:03] Thank you, Mayor, for allowing this important

[7:05] proclamation.

[7:06] I just want to recognize all of the different groups

[7:08] who have come together to start this initial

[7:12] Maricopa Water Safety Alliance.

[7:14] They have these types of promotional water safety

[7:19] groups in Maricopa County.

[7:20] And I know they're in other areas.

[7:22] And we just realized there really was a need here in Maricopa.

[7:24] that had been organized yet, and protecting our kids around water, protecting everyone around

[7:29] water is such an important thing we can do to save lives and prevent accidental drownings.

[7:34] And so if anybody would like to be involved in this, please feel free to reach out.

[7:38] Everyone is welcomed.

[7:39] This is going to be something that we're going to do year-round to help promote this cause

[7:43] and get the word out.

[7:44] So thank you, Mayor.

[7:51] Okay.

[7:52] Next is our amazing group that went through the Maricopa Citizen Leadership Academy class.

[7:58] And we have some certificates to pass out and I'm looking for the staff member that has those.

[8:05] Oh, there you are, Luis.

[8:06] Thank you very much.

[8:10] Luis, would you like to say thank you?

[8:17] Thank you, Mayor.

[8:19] I am pleased to be here this evening to say that the 25th session of the Maricopa Citizen Leadership Academy is now complete.

[8:27] And these graduates are joining over 400 others who have completed the Academy prior.

[8:33] And this session is quite special for two reasons.

[8:37] Number one, it's one of the largest group of graduates we've had, approximately 27 individuals

[8:42] have completed the academy.

[8:45] As well as for another note, I've worked with a teacher at the Maricopa Unified School District.

[8:53] And we've worked together to speak with the Arizona Department of Education and have now gotten

[9:00] them to approve the Maricopa Citizen Leadership Academy as an approved program for Maricopa

[9:06] High School students to earn their seal of civics literacy. Now there are

[9:18] four different

[9:20] seals that high school students can learn showing competency in business language arts or civics

[9:28] and the Maricopa Citizen Leadership Academy is just one of the programs that they can

[9:34] take part in, and if you are looking to take part in the America Business and Leadership Academy,

[9:39] I invite you to subscribe to our newsletter.

[9:42] We host two sessions every year in the fall and in the spring and our next session will be hosted

[9:47] approximately in September.

[9:49] So please be on the lookout for that.

[9:50] So without further ado, I would like to call out the name of graduates.

[9:54] I want to call your name, please step up and take your certificate from L.

[9:58] And then we invite you to come up over.

[10:00] We're here and stand up for a photograph at the very end. And we have since this is a very large group of everyone

[10:04] asked to hold your applause until all the names have been called. So please, all right, number one,

[10:12] at least Alexander, Elijah Alexander, Lisa Alexander, window boom, Mark Brown, Melinda Clark,

[10:27] Erica Fabri, Sherry Hazelman, Jim Hart, Kimi Huangt, Brandy Holman, Taisa Jones,

[10:43] Katherine Kisik, Jake Norr, Janae Knox,

[10:54] James Liggins, Ken Longman, Leslie McCloskey,

[11:02] Sandra McWyer, Andrew Miller,

[11:10] Andrew Mossback, Kelly Nelson,

[11:16] Jamie Owen, Alana Steward,

[11:20] Ryan Tuffoya, Lisha Vila, and Tom Weiss.

[14:02] They want to know what the table is correct, and I think after the dance on it, I think

[14:07] that will take

[14:16] us to the report from the mayor in Council. Council members, would you have something you'd like to share?

[14:26] Yes, Council member Marsh.

[14:28] Okay, it's been three weeks since the last council meeting, and it's been busy.

[14:35] On March, April 16th, I attended an Epinal County Volunteers Appreciation Luncheon in Florence,

[14:45] with 200 of my closest friends.

[14:47] I'm on a couple of boards for the county thanks to supervisor Ritiel,

[14:55] and it was a fun

[14:57] after noon on the 17th week.

[15:00] I had a luncheon there and for seniors in the community center hosted by Tom Ray. On the 19th, my HOA, I'm on the HOA board. My HOA had a spring fling in the park, and it was well attended. On the 21st, we had a senior advisory committee meeting. Ron Smith presented on dementia-friendly city program. Memory Cafe is going to be on September 25th.

[15:29] That's for people and caregivers of people with Alzheimer's and dementia.

[15:36] Okay, on May 10th, we're hosting a shred of thorn, it's 8-12 noon in the MUSD parking lot.

[15:46] And there's information up on the city website.

[15:51] The next senior advisory council meeting is going to be on the 19th of May at 4 p.m. in the cotton

[15:59] conference room. So, if you're a senior, if you want to be a senior someday, it's an open

[16:06] meeting and you can sit in and it's very interesting.

[16:13] On the fifth of May, I attended a

[16:16] and I'll partnership a Water Resource Committee meeting.

[16:20] We're trying to remove poison pills from a couple of water bills

[16:23] that we're supporting, working with Representative Martinez,

[16:27] who was here tonight.

[16:28] Thank you for coming, and Senator TJ Shope,

[16:33] who's one of our close friends.

[16:37] And that's about it.

[16:38] Thanks, Mayor.

[16:39] Thank you, Councillor Miller.

[16:41] Marce, Councillor Miller, nor.

[16:43] Thank you, Mayor.

[16:44] It has been a busy couple of three weeks since our last meeting.

[16:49] I was able to attend the Western Way Energy meeting in Casa Grande a couple of weeks ago.

[16:55] And that was a group of local elected officials learning about the energy needs that currently exist.

[17:02] The energy demands that we're going to see over the next 10 years.

[17:06] And then how renewable energy can play into that.

[17:08] And we also toured a solar farm in supervisor Vitello was there as well.

[17:14] for the tour and the meeting, and it was really interesting because the economists, Jim

[17:20] rounds, gave us some information that over the next 10 years, the energy demands that

[17:26] are going to be needed are three times our current demand today in 10 years. It's going to

[17:32] be triple because of AI and technology and the demand they put on the energy grid. And so

[17:40] how we're going to solve that dilemma and what we can do and plan for that. So it was really

[17:47] interesting. And then I was at the Maricopa Infite School District Bond Accountability Meeting,

[17:55] and that is a group of local citizens who are going to be brought together quarterly to make sure

[18:00] that the money that is raised from the bond is going to the projects that the district committed,

[18:06] It would go to and so it'll be great to be on that and make sure that those funds are used the way they should be and

[18:13] Just the transparency involves in that committee is really great and on that note

[18:18] They will be doing a groundbreaking for the new K8 school next week

[18:23] So that's really exciting that'll be in Sorrento

[18:27] And then

[18:28] Sorry my phone mocked up and I have to keep notes

[18:33] They are also going to expand career development opportunities at MHS with some of the bond funds.

[18:40] So that's really exciting and I'm really looking forward to that project as well.

[18:45] On May 3rd, I participated kind of in the Chamber Fairway to Success Golf Pat Pat Event,

[18:54] which was amazing, I'm just not a golfer, but it was well organized.

[18:59] it was really neat, it's such a creative way to get folks involved in the business community

[19:05] and how to the different businesses. So Kudos to the Chamber. I look forward to that happening

[19:09] again next year and recruiting more people to participate because it really was a neat concept.

[19:14] And next year I'll just recruit some golfers and I'll just watch. I think that's going to be my

[19:18] plan. But I highly encourage everyone to do that next year. And the other thing I wanted to talk

[19:26] about is coming up this weekend,

[19:30] the is called Mac at Mac Farms.

[19:34] And it is the Maricopa Arts Council,

[19:36] Mac at Mac Farms Art Gallery,

[19:39] and they're going to unveil

[19:40] the brand new abstract art gallery out there.

[19:43] And then they're also gonna have the orchestra

[19:46] and chorus together and concert at 3 p.m.

[19:49] And then the opening of the new exhibit

[19:52] and it should be a fantastic afternoon

[19:55] at Mac Farm starting at three for the musical entertainment and then

[20:00] So, if you have a mom, that's a great idea. Take her out there for Mother's Day and enjoy the local arts that we have here. And then, finally, I just wanted to remind everyone that it's teacher appreciation week. So give your teachers an extra thank you because they do a lot for our students and they deserve our appreciation. That's all I have.

[20:22] Thank you, Councilmember Nor, Councilmember Leerman, would you want to share some experiences from the last city council meeting?

[20:31] Yes, May I thank you very much.

[20:33] I would like to start out by remembering an honoring local Vietnam veteran, Joe Abodeen.

[20:40] He passed away this last week and I wanted to thank him for his service to our country.

[20:45] He served as the Grand Marshal in our America prevention parade in 2020.

[20:49] I also want to thank all of the teachers in Maricopa that serve our students and our families and they do an amazing job and contribute so much to our community.

[21:00] And then I would like to invite the community to participate in Taste of Copa and this is sponsored by the Chamber.

[21:07] It's a 200 value card for $25.

[21:10] And you get discounts at Tai Chilies, Nando's, water and ice, man, and he's wine bar,

[21:16] a royal grill, roots, really bees, veils, pizza, I could go on and on, cold beer and cheese

[21:22] burgers, frouts, all kinds, crumble, cook the all kinds of places.

[21:27] So, I would highly encourage everyone to try and get your hands on one of those cards

[21:31] so you can save up to $200.

[21:34] And then lastly, I just wanted to mention that May 5th through the ninth is he Awareness

[21:40] week. I just want to remind people that it's that time of year to carry around your water bottles

[21:46] where like clothing, wear hats, use umbrellas and put on your sunscreen, never leave your

[21:52] children or pets in the car. Check on your family and friends, try and stay indoors with the

[21:58] air conditioning, and then Maricopa's cooling center is the Maricopa library. Thank you very much,

[22:05] Mayor, you're welcome.

[22:07] Vice Mayor, Wade.

[22:09] Thank you, Mayor.

[22:11] I did have one thing I want to talk about,

[22:13] and one thing I want to acknowledge.

[22:16] On April 12, there was a ribbon cutting ceremony

[22:18] at Hopper Sky Lake for the booths that they had on the pot out.

[22:24] And it was really pretty nice to have

[22:26] the people come out on Saturday morning.

[22:28] It was a beautiful day, lots of kids and families were out.

[22:31] And so the booths seem like it's going to be a hit.

[22:34] The owner was extremely happy with the turnout and so something fun to go do something for the family

[22:41] Go do and then finally with the youth council members please stand up particularly those who attend to the academy

[22:49] All of them

[22:59] Thank you

[23:00] These are the young men and women who broke the seal on having youth at the academy

[23:06] It came through they attended all of the classes that were required

[23:09] This time it was the five classes instead of four and they contributed to the conversation and they were going on to do some great things

[23:18] So you'd cost them as well. There's a couple more that are out there are hiding

[23:22] But just want to acknowledge them in front of the community those are your future leaders

[23:27] Make sure you get a whole of the check their hands and everything now if there's pretty simple progress. He's going to have to best

[23:34] Thank you, man. Thank you, Vice Mayor. All right, just a couple of things since we know we have a long meeting today

[23:40] We have two items on state transportation, state route 347, so I'm not even going to mention an update there until that point.

[23:49] However, I want to take this moment just to ask anyone in the audience or even up here who went to the Benson Arizona State Transportation Board meeting.

[24:00] And here's the important thing, on their own dime for gas, on their own dime for lodging

[24:07] because it's a trip down there to speak on behalf of the citizens of the city of

[24:12] Maricopa for state route 347, please stand so that we can acknowledge you.

[24:31] Thank you.

[24:32] They're pretty fantastic.

[24:33] We had six people speak in person and five people speak via virtual meeting, a fantastic

[24:40] turn out once again for the city of Maricopa.

[24:43] More about that in the rest of our agenda, I do want to mention Kathy Palsen, many of you

[24:51] know her.

[24:51] She passed away her and her husband, Mr. Palsen, Dallas Palsen were very much a big advocate

[24:58] here in the city of America.

[25:00] I hope for many different things. Dallas actually served. Sometimes, as city council member, well, his wife passed away and I just would like to take a moment of silence for that, please.

[25:17] Thank you. And lastly, I will be creating a city council task force to discuss potential for honoring founders. We don't really have the ability to do that in a controlled environment like with parameters like, what does it mean to be a founder?

[25:33] Establishing those parameters establishing how do we honor those folks and so I've assigned or have asked I haven't assigned you

[25:43] They said yes. I asked Councilmember Gettel and Councilmember Marship. They would serve with me our first meeting will be here at City Hall on May 14 at 4 p.m.

[25:52] So I just want to make that announcement. That's what I officially have to do and that's your report from the mayor city manager. Do you have a report nothing tonight? Thank you

[26:00] Okay, very good at this time

[26:02] to the call of the public. I have six speaker cards. I believe or for call of the public,

[26:09] which at this point I want to explain. We have a public hearing as well on the have sent

[26:14] road tax. I would like to separate those speakers from this call to the public. So if I call

[26:20] your name and your intention is to speak on have sent sales tax, please let me know and we'll move

[26:26] to the public hearing.

[26:29] So my first speaker card is

[26:31] Priscilla Benke.

[26:34] Oh, she's.

[26:35] She wants to make a drink.

[26:41] Oh, will come forward for your.

[26:44] She has to.

[27:07] Does the green light on?

[27:09] Yes.

[27:10] Okay.

[27:10] You're good.

[27:11] All right.

[27:12] Thank you.

[27:13] Mayor.

[27:14] Esmith.

[27:14] Vice Mayor Wade.

[27:16] And city council members.

[27:17] I'm up here today because I'm going to be putting on for me.

[27:20] I don't know, for Maricopa, but for me, I'm putting on the first super-starting business fair.

[27:31] So this is the first time I've done this.

[27:33] So if there are children ages youth 10 to 17 and they sell, they crochet, they sell,

[27:39] they get a rate, they do anything.

[27:41] This is an opportunity for them to get their feet wet, actually, into doing business.

[27:45] So when they come out, well, I'll be holding it at Pacana Park.

[27:48] And it took a little bit of time, so this is the best way I could kind of advertise

[27:51] because special permits tickle while to get.

[27:55] So after I got it, I just wanted to make sure

[27:57] that if anybody has used anybody that once

[28:00] they're child to participate, they have to market,

[28:03] they have to talk to the patrons, they have to do everything.

[28:06] So parents can be there and say go,

[28:09] but they can't talk to them, they can't put all the signs of like,

[28:12] come and talk to my baby and buy their stuff.

[28:14] You can't do that.

[28:17] So if you want to, anybody can participate,

[28:20] If you're 10 to 17, please come out.

[28:22] This is like I said, this is the first time

[28:23] I'm bringing out your canopy use, your tarps, anything

[28:26] that you want, make sure that you, of course,

[28:29] nail down your tents or whatever that is.

[28:34] So they don't blow because sometimes we have wind

[28:35] and you can use any kind of wagons, stuff to bring it on.

[28:38] And if you are a vendor, please bring your stuff

[28:41] onto the asphalt when the parking lot

[28:43] so that if you want to also be a part of that,

[28:45] I will encourage you to do that.

[28:47] And if you want to volunteer, so this is the first time,

[28:49] it's going to look a little messy. So if you want to help and you want to see if this will continue on,

[28:54] I would greatly appreciate any help support. Please bring your youth. It will be May 17, 7, 3,

[28:59] 3, to 4, 30. Break down time 4, 30, 7, 3, in the morning. So please come out. It will be 17,

[29:05] Saturday. So I hope to see you all there. Thank you guys so much. Thank you, Tadinka.

[29:15] The next speaker card I have is Joshua Aids. Hopefully I said your last name correctly.

[29:22] Okay, thank you.

[29:28] Mayor Smith, Council members, City Manager, bitter staff.

[29:32] As you know, my name is Josh Eads, and I'm the president of the Professional Firefighters of Maricopa, local 4561.

[29:39] First, I want to take a quick second to extend a sincere appreciation to the Council

[29:46] from our members for this past year and your support for public safety.

[29:52] Your investment in fire-based ambulance service and additional personnel will help our response

[29:58] times in the city.

[30:00] And patient care outcomes. I'm here tonight to speak on agenda item 7.7, memorandum of understanding, contract with our organization in the city.

[30:12] It represents a collaborative effort between our organization and the city management. I'd like to take a quick second to show our appreciation for city manager bitter and his team for their professionalism and willingness to work with our organization. Thank you.

[30:28] This contract, while it doesn't fulfill all the goals we set out to achieve, it does

[30:38] address some of the most depressing issues facing our department today.

[30:42] This MOU includes competitive wages to strengthen our recruitment and retention efforts,

[30:47] a critical priority as we compete for qualified talent in a limited workforce, workforce,

[30:53] while continuing to serve the fastest growing city in the state.

[30:57] It also provides funding for cancer screenings for our members.

[31:02] As you may know, cancer and firefighters are 9% more likely to get cancer and 14% more likely

[31:10] to die from it.

[31:11] Cancer is now the leading cause of firefighter death nationwide at 72%.

[31:16] This screening will save lives.

[31:20] This MOU also includes a pathway to explore post-medical employment benefits, helping ensure

[31:26] members can access the care they need after decades of service to this community.

[31:32] Lastly, with the future development coming to the industrial complex, we're proud to support

[31:37] the build-up of our hazardous materials team. This agreement provides new compensation tools for

[31:43] our members who step up to meet the specialized need through advanced training and operational readiness.

[31:50] This is more than a contract. It's a statement that the City of Maricopa cares about the

[31:56] and the professionals that take care of the citizens.

[32:00] Thank you for your support, appreciate you.

[32:03] We look forward to years of collaboration,

[32:07] and as we continue to grow public safety in this community.

[32:11] Thank you.

[32:11] Thank you, Josh.

[32:20] All right, the next speaker card is Peg Chapados.

[32:33] Thank you, Mayor, by Mayor Council.

[32:35] Here tonight is the chair of the Cultural Affairs and Arts Committee

[32:39] to officially recognize one of our committee members

[32:42] who's going to be leaving our committee and that's Laura Olivier, I understand that the

[32:47] nominating council member, Mr. Marsh, is going to replace her, but on behalf of the committee,

[32:52] I just want to publicly thank her. She's been our secretary, and she has contributed greatly

[32:56] to the affairs of the committee, so she's going to be sorely missed, and we appreciate her service,

[33:01] and also because she is the vialist with the Maricopa Music Circle. Again, extend the invitation

[33:07] to everybody to attend this Saturday's Mother's Day concert out at the Ag Center. You know,

[33:12] have a concert, reception, and art all in one afternoon, so it will be a full cultural arts

[33:18] awareness day.

[33:19] Thank you.

[33:20] Thank you.

[33:27] My next speaker card is Brad Follett.

[33:41] Good evening.

[33:42] Thank you, Mayor.

[33:43] Council members have appreciated this evening.

[33:46] I want to speak tonight about something a little bit different than what you use to involve

[33:49] in global water resources.

[33:51] Over the years has been continuing to be able to identify different things in their water billing.

[33:57] Tonight, I want to speak about something different, and that's their wastewater billing.

[34:02] No doubt that water and wastewater in our environment are very important.

[34:07] They're not political issues.

[34:08] They're actually human rights issues.

[34:11] So tonight, we're looking at the base billing for residential water.

[34:15] For residents, it's $70.

[34:17] And two cents per month.

[34:19] This is not comparative to other areas like Phoenix and Chandler.

[34:23] actually it's a $30 or a charge that has to be reviewed. This would represent additional

[34:30] $366 a year per household and for 27,000 residents reaching almost $10 million a year

[34:38] this is not food apartments. Some of the things that are involved in this are what is called a water

[34:46] profile that comes in for a portable water, a pot of water, and also the water profile for

[34:52] wastewater.

[34:53] They're totally different.

[34:55] So we have to identify what's actually in our wastewater to be built.

[35:00] All those items are cyanide, hexavalent, chrome, oil, grease, increase solids, and suspended solids.

[35:08] It disrupted five day BOD, VOCs, TOCs, as a residential users, we are forced to pay the additional amount.

[35:17] On that wastewater there's not arms. Plus being taxed on it, it's not equal, fair, or just.

[35:25] Now, the city has a memorandum of understanding with global water that was initiated in January

[35:30] first of 2006 and was updated, and I believe it was in 2020.

[35:35] There's two aspects of that that they are required to obey, and that's section 9.8 compliance

[35:41] with the laws, and 9.13 has their substances.

[35:47] At issue here, the city of America hope it does not have any specific detailed code,

[35:52] city codes about the environment, and does now necessary and a pair to the such code be developed

[35:57] and implemented of which commercial industrial users are required to follow and global

[36:03] waters to trace point source polluters and put in place pre-treatment pursuant to Arizona

[36:08] Revised Statutes, 49201331, the Clean Water Act is 1972 and 33 US code 1251-1376. In closing,

[36:21] I would just like to add this to the agenda.

[36:24] It's a real important issue for all the residents of Maricopa.

[36:27] The $30 a month has a lot, but it has to be a just and be corrected.

[36:32] Thank you.

[36:33] Thank you.

[36:42] And the last speaker card I have is Kim Daniels, but it does say sales check.

[36:47] So if it's okay with you, I'm going to move that to the agenda item.

[36:52] Is there anyone else in the public that would like to approach the podium

[36:56] on a item that's not on the agenda.

[37:01] We always offer this opportunity.

[37:04] Very good.

[37:05] Then at that, I will close the call to the public.

[37:10] That'll take us to consent agenda items.

[37:12] 7.1 through 7.7.

[37:15] I have no speaker cards on the consent agenda.

[37:19] And so, Council, I ask do you have any questions?

[37:22] Are you wanting to pull any items?

[37:26] Seeing none, do I have a motion?

[37:30] Motion to approve.

[37:32] Motion to approve and seconded by Vice Mayor.

[37:34] Motion was made by Councilmember Norr.

[37:37] Any additional comments?

[37:39] Very good. All in favor say aye.

[37:42] Any opposed?

[37:44] That motion carries.

[37:46] Thank you.

[37:47] That will take us to the regular agenda item and public hearings.

[37:51] First item is 8.1.

[37:53] This item is for a couple of council members to be able to make appointments to the board's committees and commissions and we will start with council member Lairman who is on the phone.

[38:07] Thank you, Mayor.

[38:07] I'm excited for this this evening.

[38:10] I am going to be reappointing two people and then appointing two new people.

[38:15] So the first person I'm going to re-appoint is Mr. Robert Brahms.

[38:20] I believe he's there this evening, if he could stand.

[38:26] He's standing, yes he is.

[38:29] Robert, I want to thank you for serving on the planning and zoning committee.

[38:32] I want to thank you for your knowledge, your professionalism and your reliability.

[38:37] Robert is just a steadfast guy who knows this topic really well and he's done a great job on this committee.

[38:44] Then I'll also want to thank them for being willing to be re-appointed because this is a big commitment with time and effort and energy.

[38:53] So thank you so much Mr. Runs for serving in this way and for being willing to continue to serve.

[38:59] If you guys could just come around to the five.

[39:09] First of all, I'd like to re-appoint is Ms. Janine Editt, Editt, Editt. I'm so sorry.

[39:16] I can't say your last name, Editt.

[39:19] Janine serves on the PRL committee, Parks and Rec Committee.

[39:23] Is she there this evening as well?

[39:25] Yes.

[39:27] Yes.

[39:27] Wonderful.

[39:29] Janine, I want to thank you for the enthusiasm that you bring to this committee and your

[39:33] dedication to this topic.

[39:36] She's fine to listen to about the topics that come up with the URL and I want to thank her for her service and for her willingness to continue to serve in this way.

[39:55] Thank you.

[39:56] Go keep going.

[39:57] I have two ladies that I was...

[40:00] I'd like to appoint for the first time, both of these women put in their application for city council, when

[40:08] council member Gettel was appointed. And so I want to just thank them for their willingness to serve our community.

[40:16] The first person is Ms. Pristol O'John. I've asked Pristol to serve on the cultural arts and affairs committee.

[40:24] She actually started in December and so she's been serving for a while.

[40:30] Crystal has a natural creative spirit and passion for the topic of cultural and arts.

[40:38] And so I want to thank her for her willingness to serve in this way.

[40:49] And then the last person is Miss Sharon Walker.

[40:53] I believe Sharon is there as well.

[40:56] Yes, she is.

[40:59] She is going to be serving on the Senior Advisory Committee.

[41:04] She also put in her application first that you can't so and just has a big heart to serve

[41:09] our community.

[41:11] I want to thank her for being willing to serve on this particular committee and bringing

[41:16] her life wisdom and servant attitude to this committee.

[41:21] So thank you so much for sharing.

[41:29] Council Member Lairman, I had a couple things going on at the same time. Who was your

[41:33] parks in REC nominee?

[41:37] I'm gets a reappointment. I'm just Jimmy Edda.

[41:40] Okay, thank you.

[41:41] I'm editing.

[41:43] Okay.

[41:48] All right. Very good. That'll take us to Council Member Mars.

[41:53] Yes, I also have two reappointments and two new appointments on the reappointment side.

[41:58] for the Senior Advisory Committee.

[42:01] I'm re-appointing Tom Raine.

[42:04] Tom, would you stand?

[42:12] Tom is the cornerstone of that committee.

[42:14] He's the heart and soul of it.

[42:16] He also hosts the senior lunch and learns

[42:19] at the Community Center.

[42:20] Thank you for your service, Tom.

[42:28] And for the Planning and Zoning Commission,

[42:30] I'm re-appointing Ted Yokem.

[42:32] Ted comes out of the insurance industry

[42:34] and his attention to detail

[42:36] is understanding of planning and zoning,

[42:41] and the subdivision ordinance is outstanding.

[42:45] He participated in the rewrite of those two volumes of code, and that was several hundred

[42:51] pages of work over 24 months.

[42:55] He's a star on the commission, and I want to thank him for staying on it for another

[43:01] four years.

[43:09] Our new be on Parks and Rec is James Leggins, James, are you here?

[43:16] Thank you, James.

[43:17] Thank you, thank you.

[43:22] When I read his application, I saw he was going to be really good at this.

[43:26] Have a good time with it.

[43:27] Have some fun, do some great things.

[43:29] Thank you, James.

[43:36] And for the Cultural Affairs and Arts Committee, I'm appointing Edith Castro.

[43:40] She's a well-known artist and contributor to the community.

[43:44] Edith, thank you for serving.

[43:51] There you go. Very good. Thank you. Council, do you have any questions or comments on any of these appointments?

[43:58] Mayor, I'd like to move to approve all eight.

[44:01] Very good. I have a motion to approve all eight nominations. Do I have a second?

[44:06] I'd like to second.

[44:08] Seconded by Councilmember.

[44:11] Get up.

[44:12] I have wait, Doctor.

[44:14] Get up.

[44:23] I believe that Vice Mayor has an appointment to make.

[44:28] That's perfectly fine.

[44:30] Please do.

[44:31] I have to change your motion.

[44:35] I'm so surprised that this individual has not been on one of the boards of commission

[44:41] before, because she is a complete advocate for her, the community, particularly as it relates

[44:48] to the young people, teens, and that's Priscilla Binky of No. 9 of her for the Parks

[44:55] recreation and parks recreation and committee.

[44:58] Thank you.

[45:05] Okay, I need you to adjust your motion. I would like to amend my motion to approve all nine. Very good. Very good.

[45:12] And I'd like to second that amended motion. Very good. Thank you, Council Member Gettle.

[45:18] There's a lot going on here tonight, folks. Okay. So, the motion is to approve all nine for Council Member Lairman, Robert Bremes from PNZ, Crystal Ojo and for CAC, Sharon Walker for Senior Advisory Committee and Ginne,

[45:33] Eric Edick for Parks and Rec.

[45:36] For Council Member March, it is Senior Advisory Committee

[45:39] Tom Raine, PNC Ted Yokem, Parks and Rec, James Legan,

[45:44] C-A-A-A-C, Edith Castro, and for Vice Mayor Wade,

[45:48] it is for Parks and Rec, Priscilla Benke.

[45:52] Any additional comments?

[45:54] All in favor, say aye.

[45:56] All right.

[45:56] Any opposed?

[45:59] That motion carries.

[46:00] Congratulations to all of you.

[46:01] All

[46:08] right, that'll take us to the next item, which is A.2, and we have a presentation from Jennifer.

[46:21] Good evening, Mayor and Council members.

[46:23] Tonight, I am going to bring to you our updated strategic priorities.

[46:28] So our strategic priorities are essentially what drive staff work, what drives our budgetary decisions,

[46:35] and are put together to provide a lot of transparency to our residents.

[46:39] So, we first started this list in February of 2023 at our futures planning.

[46:45] This past February we brought them back again and staff recommends some updates, Council

[46:51] provided a lot of input.

[46:53] We merged all of that together and have what we have before you tonight on the idea now is

[46:59] to bring this before you for discussion and action so that these are approved by you and that

[47:07] residents are able to easily see them and easily know what priorities were working on.

[47:12] A couple of things in your packet, there is information that was a red line, so you're

[47:17] able to see the changes that were made to those pretty easily.

[47:21] These are numbered, the numbers are not to say priority, they're really for us, for tracking

[47:26] purposes, because we tie them back into the budget, and these can be changed at any time.

[47:33] So, if next week we decided there's another one to add to the list, we can always come back and do that.

[47:39] There's no timing on this, but our intention is to definitely always bring them back at future planning.

[47:45] So, I'm going to go through, I know we have a lot to get to tonight, so I'm not going to read word for word, but I'm going to go high level.

[47:52] If there's any that you want me to dig into a little more, I am more than happy to do that.

[47:57] So we'll go with first is transportation, and so this is really looking at how we can be connected within the city and how the city can be connected to the region.

[48:09] And so all of these are set up with focuses and the actions under each one, and so the actions under the transportation focus.

[48:16] The first one is looking at how we can get support from our county state federal partners to improve state route 347 and our other regional connections.

[48:26] Action 1.2 is to consider the half-cent local sales tax, which we'll talk about later this evening.

[48:33] And Action 1.3 is to do all we can to improve roadways sooner without increasing any property taxes.

[48:42] Questions and feel free to stop me if you have questions or comments on any of these.

[48:46] Focus 2 is job creation and business development, so this is focusing on bringing high quality jobs to the city of Maricopa.

[48:53] Action 2.1 is really focusing on our pursuit of developing the Maricopa Business Park.

[48:59] That work has been wandered away for years and will continue.

[49:02] Here's another future.

[49:03] Action 2.2 is looking at how we can make sure that we have an educated workforce to be able to fulfill those jobs.

[49:11] And so how we can partner with our local educational institutions as well as small businesses to make sure that we're supplying the right folks for the jobs.

[49:20] focus three is focusing on housing and so that's really looking at how we can have high

[49:26] energy neighborhoods that have a wide array of housing options within them. So

[49:33] action 3.1 really focuses on how to have diverse housing options throughout the

[49:39] city. Action 3.2 is looking at how we can continue to support local control in

[49:45] zoning decisions to ensure that our residents have a voice in how our zoning happens.

[49:52] Action 3.3 is really focusing on those village center cores that include retail.

[50:00] All restaurants, all of that in different areas of the city, and we're looking at how we can bring that into our general plan update that is coming up here soon.

[50:09] Focus for is quality of life. I'm really looking at how we can maintain that high quality of life that we all enjoy here in the city of Maricopa.

[50:16] And action 4.1 under that is the creation of our iconic park, which will just go to the east here of city hall.

[50:24] that's already working on design on that.

[50:27] Action 4.2 is how we can enhance

[50:30] what's happening at Copper Sky with more outdoor activities

[50:34] and culinary experiences.

[50:36] I think the pedal boats is a great example of one

[50:38] that's fallen into that.

[50:40] Action 4.3 is walkability and bike ability.

[50:44] You'll have proved a trail master plan.

[50:46] And now we're really looking at the details of that

[50:49] and how what portions we're going to complete

[50:51] what portions developers make complete

[50:53] how that's all going to come together. Action 4.4 is how we can champion local art initiatives

[51:00] and celebrate the arts here with public art projects and various experiences and finally

[51:06] action 4.5 is when we've talked about a lot here and how we can seek partnerships to enhance

[51:11] the opportunities that we have within the city.

[51:16] Focus 5 is about becoming a destination city

[51:18] and how we can invite and encourage visitors to come to our city and the action under this one

[51:23] really focuses on sports and event tourism,

[51:27] some things we're already doing,

[51:28] and some things that'll happen into the future

[51:30] to bring folks here to enjoy the city of Maricopa.

[51:35] And then our last focus is public safety

[51:38] and how we can continue on

[51:40] as one of the safest cities in the state of Arizona.

[51:43] And the first underaction 6.1 is using data

[51:47] to inform our decisions

[51:49] and how we make sure that we have appropriate response

[51:52] and resources for various things.

[51:56] Action 6.2 is prioritizing community policing

[52:00] to engage our residents in the safety aspects of things.

[52:04] And Action 6.3 is constructing our fifth fire station.

[52:10] Action 6.4 is establishing a hazardous materials.

[52:15] Special Operations Program.

[52:16] You heard a fire department talk a little bit about that earlier.

[52:19] And action 6.5 is, again, that launch of the in-house ambulance service and how we're preparing for that and getting ready to establish that.

[52:29] So, that goes through those those priorities if you have any questions.

[52:33] I'm sure to answer them.

[52:34] Yes, council, any questions?

[52:35] Yes, council.

[52:36] Yeah, no question just a comment.

[52:38] If I may may.

[52:40] Just thank you, Jennifer, to you and your team for being able to put in, especially that sixth focus.

[52:45] and re-emphasizing the importance of our public safety and the direction that we really want to

[52:49] head here is the city.

[52:51] I think with our MOUs, this coming online in our budget that we'll be talking about later

[52:55] this evening, all really underlines and emphasizes our need to continue to support our men and

[53:00] women that are our first responders and how much we value the safety in our city.

[53:06] So thank you for that work.

[53:08] Thank you.

[53:09] Other comments?

[53:10] Council members? Thank you, Jennifer. Seeing none, do I have a motion?

[53:16] So moved to approve? So moved by Council member Ghetto, seconded by Council member

[53:20] Marsh, any additional comments? Seeing none, all in favor say aye?

[53:26] Aye. And you post that motion carries. All right, that takes us to item 8.3, and we

[53:34] We are going to start with a presentation on the half-cent sales tax by city manager Ben

[53:39] Bitter.

[53:44] Thank you, Madam Mayor.

[53:45] Members of the council.

[53:46] Obviously this has been a long time coming and something we've discussed for many years,

[53:53] and so I want to certainly give it the time to provide some education and some information

[53:59] background as to how we got to this point and what the purpose of all of this is.

[54:04] The real goal of what we're discussing tonight is improving our commuting corridors.

[54:10] How do we enhance our travel between Maricopa and our surrounding region and really our

[54:18] employment centers?

[54:20] Ultimately, the less time that we spend in traffic is more time spent with our families,

[54:25] more dollars spent at our small businesses, and an improvement of the health safety and

[54:30] general welfare of our residents.

[54:32] But before moving on to the next slide, I just want to point this out because this is the best slide that shows the visual with 347 widening on the early stages of design where 8 out currently stands.

[54:45] I wanted to point out that the existing right away is not changing, so all of the widening is occurring within the existing easement, which is towards the center of the roadway.

[54:55] So the additional lane would be, we paved towards the middle,

[54:59] there'd still be a sh-

[55:02] So, the existing easement is in place and things are ready to move forward. So, this was the easiest slide to show that on and so I thought I'd mention that now.

[55:13] But really, the basis for the discussion tonight is really framed in a lack of funding for the long-range transportation plan for the Arizona Department of Transportation.

[55:24] If you see on this slide, overall the needs over the next 20 years or so is about $231 billion

[55:31] of which the state has about $69 billion of available funding.

[55:37] That $162 billion gap will only grow.

[55:41] As we look into the future and as costs for construction continue to rise, as needs arise

[55:46] even in just been out county.

[55:48] That gap widens in widens year by year.

[55:51] When we talk about State Route 347 and the widening, there are really a handful or five projects

[55:59] that are being discussed as part of this effort.

[56:02] That's the Queen Creek and I-10 interchange.

[56:05] That's the rigs road overpass.

[56:07] That's widening in Maricopa County.

[56:09] That's the intersections that cost the Blanca and Mammoth Way or at the cement plant.

[56:14] And it's also the widening in Penal County.

[56:15] Each of those projects is in various stages, but the funding for the Maricopa County segment is already in place because that is proposition 479 passed by Maricopa County voters.

[56:29] The proposition for Penal County is not in place. There is no funding currently assigned to that, and there is no timeline for the widening of Penal County at current.

[56:42] And so, what we looked at is, over the course of the past few years, really since we started discussing this at futures planning two or three years ago, what's how do we move this forward?

[56:53] How do we get that time back? How do we get that money back into our small businesses and how do we improve the health safety and welfare of our residents?

[57:02] And as we looked into the state transportation board policies, we noticed that their policies,

[57:08] multiple policies mentioned that the projects could be reprioritized and given additional

[57:13] priority, if there was local contributions for the projects.

[57:17] And so as we looked on our recent scoring and prioritization from the ADOT process, we found

[57:24] that we were ninth on the list, and that's not good enough to get funded.

[57:28] It's too far down on the list and we weren't going to get funded and so really our plan became how do we work with our partners at eight out at the State Transportation Board to ensure that this project that is so vital to our community can move forward on the list and that meant local contributions.

[57:48] Now some of the questions that we've often heard are hey we've done this before and and other things have not yielded the widening so why would this?

[57:56] And I think it's important to note that the discussion that we have on the half-cent local sales tax is an entirely new solution.

[58:05] The half-cent propositions that have gone before voters in Penal County and the past have had various levels of success.

[58:13] Proposition 417 and 2017 was passed by voters.

[58:16] was passed by Maricopa voters at a rate of 58 percent. Ultimately, it was adjudicated to be

[58:25] in congruent with state law and it was overturned by a vote of 4 to 3 of the Arizona

[58:31] Supreme Court. That same Arizona Supreme Court ruled that the dollars that had been collected

[58:36] at that point about four or five years into the collection of Proposition 417 would be paused

[58:42] and allowed for refunds to the taxpayer.

[58:45] And as Arizona defines taxpayer as the business that pays the tax,

[58:50] not the resident or individual that goes into a business and pays the fee,

[58:55] those taxes were refunded or are being refunded to the businesses that paid to the tax.

[59:01] So we did not see any improvements to state route 347 or any other

[59:07] transportation network within Penal County.

[59:10] The interesting thing for Proposition 417 was that that time, State Route 347, in the plan, was to get 28.8 million dollars towards the widening.

[59:21] That's an important number.

[59:22] We'll come and talk about the next Propositions as well. Proposition 469 was just recently voted on, but voted down by Penalty voters.

[59:31] Maricopa voters actually increased the support from 58% in Proposition 417 to 63% in Proposition 469.

[59:41] Now, on this one, the interesting thing is that the amount scheduled to go to State Route 347 was only $12 million.

[59:48] And so it was actually less than was with Proposition 417.

[59:51] But this was something that we knew as voters within Penal County and with certainly within the city of Maricopa, that this was a priority for us even then.

[59:59] and

[1:00:00] And so, Maricopa voters supported that at a rate of 63%. Recently, this last election cycle, Proposition

[1:00:07] 486, was before voters in Penal County. This is the maintenance tax, and it was approved by

[1:00:13] Maricopa residents at a rate of 74%. The maintenance tax is not typically used for expansion.

[1:00:20] It is maintained the roads within our communities. And so, we get a contribution every month and every

[1:00:27] and use that to ensure that there are fewer potholes and that roads are smoother, that we have cleaner

[1:00:33] right of ways within our operations.

[1:00:40] One other thing, I'll point out, it's not specifically mentioned on here as it wasn't a proposition,

[1:00:45] but also as we've looked at past efforts and as state route 347 was first created as state route 347,

[1:00:53] I think it's important to note, it was originally old Maricopa Road and it was a one-lane dirt road in each direction.

[1:00:57] When they widened that to two lanes and paved that, it was through a road improvement district, a local tax.

[1:01:03] That our local residents paid and contributed into that tax to widen that and to make it two lanes and to create state route 347.

[1:01:13] Similarly, in about 10 years ago, the federal government awarded a tiger grant to the city of Maricopa and to aid out to fund the overpass of on 347 over the railroad.

[1:01:25] also required a local contribution from the city of Maricopa.

[1:01:29] So again, our taxpayers paid for a roadway that was owned and operated by a dot at that time.

[1:01:38] As we talk about the hascent sales tax, what that is, what that means to us on a day-to-day basis.

[1:01:45] The first thing that's important to note, and this is different in Arizona than in many other states.

[1:01:49] But as we have growth that comes to our community, as we have developers and people that construct things here in town,

[1:01:57] They don't actually pay sales tax at the point of sale.

[1:02:00] They pay it where they are constructing the development.

[1:02:03] And so what that means is about 40% of all of the sales tax dollars that we receive as the city of Maricopa on a regular basis.

[1:02:10] About 40% of that comes from the development activity, meaning growth is paying for growth.

[1:02:16] And in this case, instead of all of that tax burden being shifted to our taxpayers,

[1:02:21] 40% of it approximately would be coming from those that are building within our community.

[1:02:27] So, over the course of the tax, as we continue to grow and have additional retail opportunities

[1:02:34] as, you know, lows opens and home-deep will continue to thrive and we continue to see

[1:02:39] additional buildings, like maybe in some future world, we'll see a target or a Costco.

[1:02:45] As those facilities open in the future, we'll continue to increase the how much we collect

[1:02:50] on a regular basis.

[1:02:51] And so today we look to see about $8 million per year by the end of the sunset of the 20-year

[1:02:57] tax.

[1:02:58] But we may see a little bit more than that, $10-15 million per year, but each of that would

[1:03:03] be collected and spent on a regular basis through an annual budget process.

[1:03:10] What does this mean on our, in terms of a day-to-day impact, well, this is not going to be charged

[1:03:16] on groceries, the category, and the tax law is called food for home consumption, so it would

[1:03:20] be taxed against food for home consumption. It does not hit the fuel at the pump, so both eggs

[1:03:27] or milk or whatever. That would all stay the same price before and after. Same with gas. If

[1:03:32] it were 299, before or 329, before it would stay 329 after, it would hit things like fast food

[1:03:40] or appliances at the home improvement store. And so you'd see the impact there for example on a

[1:03:48] Well, dollar fast food meal, the impact would be six,

[1:03:50] and to be 12.06.

[1:03:52] On a large purchase, like a refrigerator, for example,

[1:03:55] instead of $800, $800, $800, $800, so that would be the impact.

[1:04:01] Now, when we talk a little bit about how costive gone up,

[1:04:07] and we're not immune to that on an individual basis,

[1:04:12] and certainly not as a basis of a city,

[1:04:14] as we face rising cost and construction,

[1:04:16] want to take a minute to talk a little bit about the environment that we operate in.

[1:04:21] A.D. produces a regular construction cost index.

[1:04:25] And they go back to 2016 and say, if 2016 something cost a dollar, what would it cost today?

[1:04:32] They're recently quarterly update put that at $2.14.

[1:04:36] So if a road cost a dollar per mile effectively now would be costing $2.14.

[1:04:41] And it's much more than that, I promise.

[1:04:44] By way of comparison, we had our friends at Maricopa Association of Governments, did a little bit of an analysis on State Route 24, and that route was built in fiscal year 2021.

[1:04:58] It cost 66.

[1:05:00] Five million dollars in fiscal year 2021. If they were to go out and build that construction project again in fiscal year 2024. So last fiscal year, it would have cost $157 million, $135 per cent increase.

[1:05:15] And so when you think about the size and scope of large projects and how quickly those budgets can run,

[1:05:21] really, too, an amount that becomes unsustainable for us, a $90 million increase, is almost

[1:05:28] a full year of our operating expenses.

[1:05:32] And so those are large increases that would have dramatic impact on communities like us

[1:05:37] and similar.

[1:05:39] And so there are a couple of different routes for approving sales tax increases in Arizona,

[1:05:46] on a some constitutional, some statutory,

[1:05:50] but really the difference comes down to time and timing.

[1:05:55] And if we're to go to the city council

[1:05:58] as we are tonight, within 60 days we post the ordinance

[1:06:02] and that is what's on the agenda tonight.

[1:06:04] If approved tonight, that tax would be able to be collected

[1:06:07] starting on October 1st of 2025.

[1:06:10] If this were sent to the voters

[1:06:11] because of consolidated election laws,

[1:06:14] it wouldn't be able to be on a ballot

[1:06:16] until November of 2026, and because of the law of how that is collected and adjudicated, that means

[1:06:22] it wouldn't be collected until April 1st of 2027. So the difference of 18 months could mean an

[1:06:29] increase of costs on the inflation side. It could certainly mean a loss of momentum in terms of

[1:06:34] how we operate and the agreements that we may have in place with AdOT, and certainly the most important

[1:06:42] is it has an effect on the safety of our community and the fatalities that we've experienced

[1:06:47] in the accidents and the injuries that have all come as part of the existing framework

[1:06:53] of state route 347.

[1:06:57] As we held multiple open houses in the public, we heard questions about how do we ensure

[1:07:02] that this money is going to go to the right spot?

[1:07:05] How do we ensure that this is actually going to happen and move forward?

[1:07:09] And so we certainly wanted to have some time

[1:07:11] to discuss that and really just kind of explain

[1:07:15] how revenues are collected generally in government.

[1:07:18] Government accounting is one of the most difficult things

[1:07:20] for anyone to understand.

[1:07:22] That's why we have smart CFOs like Matkaz Lauske

[1:07:26] that will speak to us in a bit.

[1:07:28] But we tried to break this down into a simple

[1:07:30] of a process as possible.

[1:07:32] In Arizona, the Arizona Department of Revenue collects

[1:07:34] all of our revenues and then distributes those back to us

[1:07:38] monthly basis. And so all of our sales tax revenue gets deposited into our account, and then

[1:07:44] it's up to us to get that receipt and say, okay, this portion is this, this portion

[1:07:48] is that and put it where it's intended to go. And so in this case, as we, if we were to approve

[1:07:56] of a sales tax for improving commuting corridors, that money would be deposited first into the

[1:08:02] general fund, and then we would make the transfer into the sales tax fund for commuting corridors.

[1:08:07] further we would ensure that all spending on that out of that fund would be reported through

[1:08:13] our capital improvement plan so every year as part of our annual budget and through our transparency

[1:08:19] portal on our website we certainly provide updates in terms of where all of our capital

[1:08:23] improvement projects are funded, which funds are supplying the dollars for those projects that

[1:08:29] would occur in this case and then finally a third party audit occurs every single year that

[1:08:35] would be able to verify that those funds were collected and spent according to the ordinance.

[1:08:44] Where does this put us and how does the city of Maricopa rank as it relates to sales tax rates?

[1:08:48] Currently only eight cities out of 91 in the state have a lower sales tax rate than Maricopa.

[1:08:55] The median sales tax rate in the state is 2.95.

[1:08:59] So even under the proposed rate of 2.5 for our general sales tax, the city of Maricopa would

[1:09:05] it well below the median of the state, and currently as it relates to how much we collect

[1:09:10] the city of Maricopa ranks 70th out of 91 cities in terms of per capita collections

[1:09:16] for sales tax.

[1:09:18] So a lot of our funds are going out to the Chandlers and the Maricopa County cities.

[1:09:24] We know from previous reports that about $1.3 billion per year is spent by Maricopa residents

[1:09:30] outside of the city of Maricopa.

[1:09:32] if we could bring some of that back, then we would be able to fund our small businesses

[1:09:36] and I'm much higher rate.

[1:09:41] The other thing I think is important to talk about is really

[1:09:45] the context of how we look at the burden on the taxpayer, and our goal is to provide an increasingly

[1:09:53] lower burden on the taxpayer each year, and not to steal Matt's thunder as we get to the budget

[1:09:58] little bit later but I'm going

[1:10:01] Our proposed rate actually lowers the property tax, both primary and secondary rates for the 7th year in a row.

[1:10:11] This is our commitment to try and find a balance of really ways to again lower that overall tax burden.

[1:10:20] How do we find a way to not be burdensome to our residents that obviously are going to be paying a large portion of the sales tax?

[1:10:32] And so part of that is to offset our primary and secondary property tax rates.

[1:10:40] Just a couple more pieces of information I think are important for us to focus on.

[1:10:46] But we had a conversation with economists, Jim Rounds, that Council Member Norton mentioned earlier,

[1:10:53] specifically on the impacts to state route 347 and what widening state route 347 could mean for our community.

[1:11:00] And I think the quote at the bottom left of the screen is really kind of a good summary of his recommendation.

[1:11:07] She said substantial improvements along the state route 347 corridor is projected to significantly reduce transit times, entering and exiting the city.

[1:11:15] Improvements are expected to further unlock new economic development opportunities within Maricopa and support long-term growth

[1:11:23] Obviously our primary focus is to improve the health safety and welfare of our community

[1:11:28] But there's also a secondary benefit that if we can bring additional jobs to our community

[1:11:33] That that means there are people less people traveling on state route 347 because there are more jobs here

[1:11:39] And those that are traveling on state route 347 will be able to do it in a quicker and more efficient manner

[1:11:48] Now, as we've talked to this, the sales tax issue would be to focus on improving commuting

[1:11:54] corridors.

[1:11:55] If we simply focused on state route 347, we could find ourselves in a similar position

[1:12:00] in five or ten years.

[1:12:03] So what are we doing to think about the future?

[1:12:06] Now there's nothing set in stone as it relates to, yes, something is guaranteed to happen,

[1:12:13] but everything that we are doing is focused on the future on how we can prepare for that

[1:12:17] next step. And so on this slide, there are some examples that we're working with a

[1:12:21] Healer River Indian community on creating loop roads or alternate access points.

[1:12:27] If you want to think about that way, that we could get cars on and get cars off of state

[1:12:31] route 347 in a more convenient way. For example, if you see in the red on this, that could

[1:12:37] be a green road loop that would be able to get some of those trash trucks off of the state

[1:12:42] route 347 and not go through the intersection. It's smithink and we would be able to have

[1:12:47] a lot better traffic through there, similarly to the east, you see the yellow, the blue, purple,

[1:12:53] and green, to seed farm road as part of I-10 expansion. Arizona Department of Transportation

[1:13:00] will be building a new interchange at seed farm road where that kind of green terminus ends at I-10.

[1:13:06] That interchange will also serve the City of Sacatone for the heat of a raining community,

[1:13:12] But they also want to see pavement going west, and so they're actually planning to pay in the first couple of miles west of that point.

[1:13:20] And so what options to that provide for us in the future?

[1:13:23] Can we connect our east side to that route and have a six mile trip to the east to connect I-10?

[1:13:31] And could that help the 347 corridor and get cars off of that route and create a longer, more sustainable play?

[1:13:39] And so we're certainly working with them on that and hope to see some movement on that in

[1:13:43] the coming years as well.

[1:13:47] With that, obviously we've got people that are going to speak and I won't spend too much

[1:13:51] time on this and I think we've had a great opportunity to reach out to community partners

[1:13:58] and see their thoughts on the issues, certainly opportunity to reach out to the community

[1:14:04] and hear from them at any of our three public meetings and through emails and phone calls

[1:14:09] public comment at various times, but really thought that there were some meaningful

[1:14:15] comments that we received in some letters of support that were on here, and so

[1:14:20] thought we would highlight that. But ultimately, as we have this opportunity today

[1:14:26] to make a difference into our commuting corridors moving into the future, it wouldn't

[1:14:33] be possible for us to be here without the work of so many people. While may or

[1:14:38] don't often like to share the spotlight or to have that spotlight shine on you, you certainly

[1:14:44] have been a leader as we've gone to state transportation board meetings, former mayors,

[1:14:49] Christian prices has gone to state transportation board meetings for years. The 347 FACC

[1:14:55] group has been tremendous at bringing in support.

[1:15:00] Or the state route 347. And I think most importantly, our partner at A.D., the Arizona Department of Transportation has really stepped up and worked with us really well over the course of the last couple of years in particular.

[1:15:14] I think the next item on the agenda is the intergovernmental agreement where they would commit to designing and constructing the widening of the state route 347.

[1:15:23] All of those things I think are symbolic of the support and the strong relationship that we have to collaborate with the Arizona Department of Transportation on this important network for the city of Maricopa and so with that I'm happy to take any questions and anything you may have.

[1:15:41] Thank you very much.

[1:15:44] Yes, I was just going to say councilmember Nor.

[1:15:46] Is it all right if we let the public hearing occur first?

[1:15:51] I just wanted City Manager better to explain how this proposal that we are considering tonight

[1:16:02] is not the same as the one that the courts threw out and so we aren't going to be subject

[1:16:07] to that same uncertainty and lawsuits because it's a different dynamic.

[1:16:14] Yeah, I think you met a Mayor at Councilmember Norr.

[1:16:16] Yeah, the propositions that were passed previously

[1:16:19] as shown on the screen were through the Penal Regional

[1:16:22] Transportation Authority.

[1:16:23] It was a statewide, sorry, a county-wide proposition.

[1:16:28] That was approved by voters in the case of Proposition

[1:16:30] 417.

[1:16:32] That was overturned.

[1:16:33] It was a lawsuit by the Goldwater Institute.

[1:16:36] And really focused on the word variable that

[1:16:39] was put into that resolution at that time.

[1:16:44] That set a variable rate for any purchases above $10,000, and they set that variable rate at 0, and that was what the Supreme Court ruled on a 4-3 vote that was not within the statutory authority for the Penal Regional Transportation Authority to do, and so this is an entirely different process.

[1:17:04] this is a process that the city is given under constitutional authority to enact sales tax

[1:17:11] increases for its general welfare. We are able to do various levels of tax increase under the

[1:17:19] model city tax code and these are done strictly through the league of Arizona cities and towns

[1:17:26] and in corroboration with them and their partners and so we're very confident moving forward.

[1:17:31] Thank you. Thank you. City manager bitter. That was a great presentation. At this point

[1:17:38] We'll open the public hearing. I have several speaker cards

[1:17:44] Imagine that. The first speaker card I'd like to go to is a one that was sent in to our city clerk

[1:17:52] It is from Rachel LaFal and I will read for the benefit of all here what she has to say. My name is Rachel LaFal

[1:18:00] and I am a city of Maricopa, resident and I support the Hassan sales tax that is being proposed

[1:18:05] to aid in the Highway 347 improvements. This is another proactive effort by our city to demonstrate

[1:18:12] the importance of making this main thoroughfare safer for our Maricopa residents, travelers,

[1:18:18] suppliers, emergency responders, and more. I am thankful that council and staff are working together

[1:18:24] with other agencies including A.D. and Greg to ensure that our safety and prosperity are

[1:18:30] not deprioritized. This improvement affects everyone including those who state they do not

[1:18:36] travel on 347 since food, gas, merchandise, emergency transportation and a list of other necessities

[1:18:43] and indulgences are transported using this route. I appreciate the transparency and checks and

[1:18:50] I've been included in the plan and look forward to the continued growth and safety of our great city.

[1:18:58] Moving forward, I'd like to ask Priscilla Benke to come forward.

[1:19:02] Madam Mayor, she's coming forward.

[1:19:04] Are you setting any sort of a time limitation as part of this?

[1:19:07] The question is, I would like to, there are many cards.

[1:19:10] The question is, since I allowed the three minutes during the call to the public,

[1:19:14] can I adjust this to two minutes?

[1:19:17] Okay, I would like to do that because there are a bunch of cards.

[1:19:21] All right, Priscilla.

[1:19:23] Thank you.

[1:19:23] I'm an effective speaker.

[1:19:24] I don't need that much time.

[1:19:26] Good evening.

[1:19:27] Adam Mayer and Council.

[1:19:29] I'm here tonight to voice my support on behalf of the Half-Sale Sales Hacks for the SR-347.

[1:19:34] It's the highway version of Groundhog's Day.

[1:19:36] It's the same delays, the same stress, the same waste of time, every single day.

[1:19:42] The state has made it clear.

[1:19:43] they know that there's a $162 billion shortfall but they're not doing anything about it.

[1:19:50] They haven't prioritized fixing it and at some point attacks will most likely have to be implemented

[1:19:55] to reach that. The only real question is, do we wait around for someone else?

[1:20:00] Just to do it, or do we take the lead? I applaud you as a council for choosing to lead, raising part of the funding

[1:20:07] ourselves, puts us at the front of the line, instead of the bottom of the pile. This is a smart

[1:20:11] bold and innovative move. This tax isn't permanent, it's a temporary bridge to real solutions.

[1:20:17] And for Mayor Copa families every day, we don't act, it's another dinner missed, another opportunity

[1:20:22] lost, and another reason for frustration to grow, and God forbid another loss of life. Let's be

[1:20:29] city that steps up, not the one that's stuck in traffic for another five years. Complaining

[1:20:34] about how no one else has fixed it. Thank you.

[1:20:37] Thank you.

[1:20:42] I'd like to call up to Nika Drake

[1:20:47] and the next person will be Tina Dugan so

[1:20:51] that we can kind of, yeah. Thank you, Tina.

[1:21:06] Thank you, Mayor, my Mayor and Council. I'm here to just voice my opinion and concern for the

[1:21:17] I learned was, I needed to be educated about how was happening, and those open houses were very, very

[1:21:24] Indrical and getting the education. There's a lot of misinformation and disinformation that has been

[1:21:30] spewed and it's all incorrect. So one of the things I liked was being educated by a lot of

[1:21:37] well-versed people in educating me on how this is going to happen where it's going to come from, and for me

[1:21:43] I hate going on 347 and seeing to the right of me.

[1:21:48] There's some catastrophic accident, and something's covered,

[1:21:52] or someone is covered, and then I go again on a different day.

[1:21:55] And onto the left of me, there's a whole bunch of accidents and ambulance.

[1:22:00] I don't really like to see a whole bunch of that, because I've got four kids,

[1:22:03] and I travel that often, because I have to go to the VA and all of those things.

[1:22:07] So I just want to say I'm in support of it, definitely life is important,

[1:22:11] and we want to bring more here as well.

[1:22:14] And I don't want our city to just be thought of as,

[1:22:17] oh, it's Mayor Copa, the 347.

[1:22:19] We don't need to be attached to it like that,

[1:22:21] because the Mayor Copa has such beautiful things,

[1:22:24] but nobody gets past 347 to know them.

[1:22:26] So that's what I want to say.

[1:22:27] I'm in support of it.

[1:22:29] Thank you.

[1:22:29] Thank you very much.

[1:22:34] Tina Dugin.

[1:22:36] And on Jack is Kim Daniels.

[1:22:39] Good evening, Mayor Smith and City Council.

[1:22:40] I speak here tonight as a long time resident who moved here when there was one

[1:22:45] lane each direction on what was known as Maricopa Road. I pushed hard for a

[1:22:50] safer and wider 347. I've spoken at the A.D. meetings. I actually spoke at the

[1:22:56] House Appropriations Committee this year and supported the rigs overpass

[1:23:00] funding. And every time that we go the answer is always the same. There is no

[1:23:06] funding and without that, the 347 will not progress to the five-year plan.

[1:23:12] Basically, you're considering what equates to 50 cents for every hundred dollars.

[1:23:18] And I know, because I make myself stay informed that every penny stays here in

[1:23:22] Maricopa and goes for the transportation needs that we have as a community.

[1:23:28] I support this tax.

[1:23:31] If we wait for a citywide vote, I know that the earliest elections November of 26 and this

[1:23:37] would push our chance to join the five-year plan to 2027 or later, two more years of

[1:23:44] gridlock and higher construction costs.

[1:23:47] Tonight's vote is the spark we need to start the widening.

[1:23:51] This funding also jumps starts alternate routes such as seed farm road and the Sanoran Desert

[1:23:56] Parkway, easing traffic while 347 is built out.

[1:24:02] Also, the green road bypass which is vital for the big trucks,

[1:24:06] like the one that my child drives.

[1:24:09] I'm asking you to please adopt this half-cent tax tonight.

[1:24:13] We can't wait any longer.

[1:24:16] And as you know, my favorite saying,

[1:24:19] let's be part of the solution, not part of the problem.

[1:24:22] Thank you.

[1:24:28] This is Kim Daniels, and on deck will be Ron and Jeremy.

[1:24:32] Good evening, Mayor and Council.

[1:24:33] My name is Kim Raleigh Daniels, and I have lived in Maricopa for over a decade.

[1:24:37] And now I'm attending our local college CAC, and I'm thinking about what comes next in my own future,

[1:24:43] like starting a career and a family here.

[1:24:45] But one big question keeps coming up.

[1:24:48] Can I build a future here?

[1:24:50] What will it look like over the next decade?

[1:24:52] For years, I watched my father spend hours on the 347 just to get to and from work.

[1:24:57] and I do not want my future to be defined.

[1:25:00] By the same traffic and lost time. I know this tax is temporary, but the benefits will last for generations. It shows that

[1:25:07] America is serious about solving problems and not just waiting for the state to maybe help. That's the kind of city I want to live in. So I want to support the half-cent sales tax. Thank you. Thank you, Kim.

[1:25:22] This is Ron Andrew Army, and on deck is Tore and Torel.

[1:25:27] Thank you, City Council. For the opportunity to speak about state route 247 and the proposed sales tax.

[1:25:31] My name is Ron Andrew, and I've been working with the 347 facts team for over two years

[1:25:36] of attended eight out board meetings during this time and have developed a reasonable understanding

[1:25:41] of what's working and what's not.

[1:25:44] Over these two years, I personally deliver heartfelt messages of lives lost, I presented

[1:25:49] a hard data on the growing number of accidents, along with 347, a 347 facts team has sent

[1:25:54] that over 120,000 emails to 1200 concerned citizens.

[1:25:59] We are still not on 8,8x5 year plan.

[1:26:03] The last month at an 8 o'clock board meeting, I heard something new.

[1:26:07] For the first time in two years, board members spoke with support for the 347.

[1:26:11] They acknowledged it.

[1:26:12] They said, this is something we have to do.

[1:26:15] Why the change in tone?

[1:26:16] I believe it was driven from the proposal from the City of Maricopa and

[1:26:20] Penalty County to contribute $50 million for the widening of 347.

[1:26:24] The funding offer changed the conversation.

[1:26:26] And here's the reality, if we don't pass this tax increase and we don't offer the money,

[1:26:32] there's zero chance we're going to get on the five-year plan.

[1:26:35] Albert Einstein once said, insanity is doing the same thing over and over and

[1:26:40] expecting the results to be different.

[1:26:42] We've attended the eight out meetings.

[1:26:44] We've sent the emails, our mayor and our government representatives like Katie Proctor

[1:26:49] and countless other government and community members have fought for years.

[1:26:52] We've made progress, but the breakthrough is what we need.

[1:26:57] This tax increase is an easy, but it's necessary.

[1:27:00] It's a new strategy.

[1:27:02] Let's do something different, because different is what we need.

[1:27:05] Let me close with a quick passage from the Bible.

[1:27:08] In John 21, the story of the disciples,

[1:27:11] fishing overnight, and catching nothing.

[1:27:13] When they return to shore, Jesus tells them to try again.

[1:27:17] But this time, through the net on the other side,

[1:27:20] They do, and the next bills were fish, so many fish that are nearly breaks.

[1:27:25] Now, what do you think would have happened if they threw the net on the same side?

[1:27:30] They would have come up empty.

[1:27:31] Do we get differently?

[1:27:32] They change the outcome.

[1:27:34] So tonight, let's throw the net on the other side.

[1:27:38] Thank you.

[1:27:44] All right.

[1:27:44] This is Torn Terrell.

[1:27:46] And next up is Tenika.

[1:27:49] Didn't I call your name?

[1:27:51] Yeah.

[1:27:51] Okay.

[1:27:51] I must have two cards for you.

[1:27:53] Next up is Bill Robertson.

[1:27:55] Thank you, Mayor. Thank you, Council. Vice Mayor.

[1:28:00] Wasn't really expecting to speak tonight, but here I am.

[1:28:04] Pleasure my support for the half syntax for 347.

[1:28:08] For the past seven years, eight years,

[1:28:12] that I've been a resident of Maricopa.

[1:28:15] I have been forced to have to sit on the 347.

[1:28:20] Much like many of the rest of us here.

[1:28:23] I can't tell you how many times, how many accidents I have seen,

[1:28:27] the things that have really, just made it difficult to want to travel to and from, you know.

[1:28:37] So, but we need better.

[1:28:38] We need a lot better than this than what we endure on a daily basis.

[1:28:44] I know a lot of people that are outside of this city, they don't get to see what we see.

[1:28:48] There are some people in this city that don't get to see what we see because they probably have retired here where they probably sit here

[1:28:56] But we need something

[1:28:58] We really need this absent tax to go forward to that way we can get on this five-year plan

[1:29:03] Now I started out as a complainer

[1:29:06] with a mayor one day put me in a group that said you can actually do something

[1:29:12] So I joined

[1:29:15] And after being on both sides of that

[1:29:18] track, we really need this absent tax.

[1:29:22] So please consider it, please pass it.

[1:29:24] And with that, I thank you.

[1:29:25] Thank you, Tyne.

[1:29:31] OK, this is Bill Robertson, and on deck is Brandi Home.

[1:29:36] Thank you, Mayor Council.

[1:29:38] I'd like to recognize Chairwoman Daniels

[1:29:42] from the Arizona Transportation Board

[1:29:44] as with us tonight.

[1:29:45] It's great to have you to hear directly

[1:29:46] from the people in our photographs.

[1:29:49] Thank you.

[1:29:53] She's seen a lot of us in the last couple months.

[1:29:56] Anyway, and I do have a beef to start off with.

[1:30:00] Manager Bitter, you stole all my thunder. A lot of the points you made were great, so I actually can get this done in two minutes.

[1:30:07] All right. So we'll get started. First of all, a sales tax is the best way to fund big projects like this.

[1:30:14] It's grants the cost out to everybody that used the roads, not just Maricopa Taxpayers and Residents.

[1:30:19] The soccer team that comes to town buys a bag of ice, and some bag of oranges, and the

[1:30:27] different people that come to visit, they go to the restaurants, and they're using

[1:30:31] our roads.

[1:30:32] So it's the fairest way for big projects to be funded.

[1:30:35] There's just no doubt about it.

[1:30:37] The lane expansion is not in the current five-year plan.

[1:30:40] It's just not there.

[1:30:41] We will be in Bullhead City next week, addressing the transportation board, and we will be

[1:30:47] the transportation board meeting in peace and in June to also continue to advocate and get this

[1:30:53] done. It's all about getting into five-year plan this time, then getting to funding in place,

[1:30:58] gives us that significant local funding that does move the needle. As former Mayor of Christian

[1:31:04] Price demonstrated with the overpass, we put money on the table, things happen. I support this

[1:31:10] tax and encourage you to vote yay. Thank you. Thank you, Val.

[1:31:18] All right, this is Brandy Homeman

[1:31:19] and an on-deck is Cooper Price.

[1:31:23] Good evening Mayor and city council.

[1:31:25] Today I want to speak about a critical decision

[1:31:27] facing the city of America,

[1:31:28] but the proposed has sent sales tax dedicated

[1:31:30] to widening state route 347.

[1:31:33] For years, state route 347 has been a lifeline connecting

[1:31:36] America to the greater Phoenix area,

[1:31:38] yet as our population is surge,

[1:31:40] the highway has not kept pace.

[1:31:42] Every day more than 30,000 vehicles travel this route,

[1:31:45] and unfortunately as seen thousands of injuries per year

[1:31:48] to congestion and safety issues. Despite repeated efforts, including county-wide tax proposals

[1:31:54] and appeals for state funding, Maricopa Zee has been overlooked leaving us at the back

[1:31:59] of the line for improvements. The proposed have since sales tax is bold and proactive step.

[1:32:05] If it proved it would generate about 8 to 10 billion annually for the next 20 years,

[1:32:09] funding the widening of SR-347 and positioning the projects for inclusion in the Arizona

[1:32:14] Department of Transportation's five-year plan.

[1:32:17] Without the local funding match, A.D. simply cannot prioritize our project and we could be waiting

[1:32:22] decades for a relief.

[1:32:24] Importantly, the tax will not apply to essentials like gas and groceries in America, but

[1:32:27] would still have one of the lowest sales tax rates in the state.

[1:32:31] The money rates would stay local, directly improving the safety and efficiency of the road

[1:32:34] we all depend on.

[1:32:36] This isn't just about widening a road.

[1:32:38] It's about making America a safer and more accessible and ready for the future.

[1:32:41] by investing in SR-347, we're investing in our community's prosperity and ensuring our families

[1:32:47] can get home safely.

[1:32:49] Each day.

[1:32:49] Thank you.

[1:32:50] Thank you, Brandon.

[1:32:55] All right.

[1:32:55] This is Cooper Price, and on deck is Peg Chapados.

[1:33:00] Good evening.

[1:33:02] My name is Cooper Price.

[1:33:03] I've lived in America for the past 18 years, my entire life, and I've seen firsthand how SR-347

[1:33:09] affects just about everything, not just getting to work or into town but safety.

[1:33:13] The road is too congested, and the stop and go traffic is dangerous.

[1:33:17] My peers have witnessed an experienced serious accidents.

[1:33:21] Now that I graduated, I'm thinking about what comes next and honestly, I don't want

[1:33:25] to spend the next 18 years navigating that same road.

[1:33:28] I support this temporary sales tax because it's an investment in the infrastructure of our

[1:33:32] city and that needs to support young people like me, safer commutes, better job access,

[1:33:38] and more time with our families.

[1:33:40] Waiting on others hasn't worked, this is our chance to step up.

[1:33:43] Thank you for moving forward and for fighting to invest in our future.

[1:33:46] Thank you, Cooper.

[1:33:52] All right.

[1:33:52] This is Peggy Chapados, and next up is Sharon Walker.

[1:33:56] Good evening, Mayor.

[1:33:57] Vice Mayor Council.

[1:33:59] Tonight for me, this is all about the numbers.

[1:34:01] There's a lot of people who's collaboration and cooperation went into this agenda item tonight.

[1:34:07] So first of all, thanks foremost to Mayor's former council members,

[1:34:11] especially former Mayor Kelly Anderson and former Mayor Christian Price,

[1:34:15] together, the stars aligned to help us get the overpass after 15 years.

[1:34:20] When I moved here in 2006, it was just after the voter approved widening of 347 from two

[1:34:26] lengths to four lengths happened. That was 19 years ago. Imagine what we can do 19 years from now.

[1:34:32] Maricopa is now a city to that went from being the poster shelf of our closure to the poster

[1:34:36] shelf for growth in the nation. I've lived here. I've seen the recession. I've seen the one in

[1:34:43] for homes for closure.

[1:34:45] I've seen all of the stuff that's happened.

[1:34:47] I want to thank you for your foresight

[1:34:49] and initiative, the 347 facts.com that's happened.

[1:34:53] But most of all, I want to give you anywhere

[1:34:55] from 50 million to 134 million reasons

[1:34:58] why this is a good thing.

[1:34:59] Thank you.

[1:35:00] Thank you. Thank you, Ted.

[1:35:05] All right. This is Sharon Walker, and on deck is Ron Flaming.

[1:35:09] Good evening, everyone. Good evening, Mayor. Vice Mayor's wave and council members. I'm going to just what I initially

[1:35:15] was going to say because everybody spoke with before me has said everything so eloquently and I really

[1:35:20] do appreciate Mr. Bitter's presentation on everything. And basically, I'm in support of the half-cent tax.

[1:35:32] And

[1:35:32] this one in particular is a necessary evil to get what we need with regard to all of the issues

[1:35:37] regarding 347. We've all said what issues we have with traveling it every day, safety, time,

[1:35:43] and everything. I think this would be a reasonable and prudent decision to make and I hope that the

[1:35:47] Council and the mayor will approve it. Thank you. Thank you, Sherry.

[1:35:54] This is Ron Flaming and on deck

[1:35:56] is Christian Price. Good evening, Mayor and Council. It's great to be here tonight on such an important

[1:36:06] issue. My name is Ron Flamingoy. I am the President in CEO of Global Water. First, I've never

[1:36:12] met the gentleman that spoke earlier in the call to the public. He's never reached out

[1:36:16] to me. And if you had, we'd have the opportunity to educate him. And I invite that. But

[1:36:24] I think that approach tells you all you need to know. But tonight is not about water and

[1:36:34] elected leaders of this community, and I often find myself saying that I don't envy you

[1:36:40] in the position you're in or that of city manager better.

[1:36:45] Although global water is a private company, there is a lot of similarities when it comes

[1:36:50] to helping a city grow and be successful, so when it comes to planning, budgeting, quality

[1:36:59] of life, economic development in a sustainable way, just doing the right things.

[1:37:05] You have lots of balance, and there are always trade-offs.

[1:37:10] But even inside of that, there is a mandate.

[1:37:13] And the mandate is reliable service and a safe manner.

[1:37:20] So when it comes to compliance and safety, that is our top mandate, and I know how seriously

[1:37:26] you in the city take it as well and the fact of the matter is highway 347 is not safe

[1:37:34] and it is not reliable which means something needs to be done now. So because of that

[1:37:39] fact we support the sales tax initiative as well and we commend the council for having

[1:37:46] the courage to to think outside the box with your team and come up with the solution.

[1:37:52] This building was built and started during the great recession.

[1:37:58] The city has acquired a lot of land when it was at a great value for future economic development.

[1:38:06] A lot of people have talked about the overpass of the double rail.

[1:38:11] Those are also courageous, bold moves to help move the city forward.

[1:38:17] That's what I love about the city. I find myself telling the story about it often.

[1:38:21] We've like, what makes the city of Maricopa so special is the fact that you believe in yourself

[1:38:28] and you invest in yourself and you don't wait for others to come fix it.

[1:38:33] So I appreciate what you're doing here, thank you for it and thank you for letting me speak tonight.

[1:38:37] Thank you, Ron.

[1:38:44] Christian, I'm sorry.

[1:38:46] I misread your card.

[1:38:47] Would you still like to speak?

[1:38:48] No, not at all.

[1:38:49] I want to speak on this topic at all.

[1:38:55] All right.

[1:38:55] But can you do it under two minutes?

[1:38:57] No, that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that I have

[1:39:03] supplanted four more speaker guards in there.

[1:39:06] So don't worry very quickly thank you again term for this you know as I thought about

[1:39:12] what I was gonna say tonight I thought it was gonna be easy I've been talking about this for

[1:39:16] so long didn't know I was gonna get emotional over this but this is a truly a historic moment

[1:39:22] And you have the opportunity to govern as my friends and colleagues.

[1:39:28] I've poured my blood sweat and tears into this road for so long.

[1:39:33] When I moved here, I didn't know that my decision was going to be based on a roadway.

[1:39:39] I didn't know that my existence was going to be based on a roadway.

[1:39:42] I didn't know it was going to have such a confluence of my life and to be standing here before you today.

[1:39:47] Really, again, it means a lot.

[1:39:52] This is our opportunity, it takes money to make money, you want to make money back on your investments, then you invest in your business.

[1:40:00] I remember myself, just like Ron said. I remember my very first day in office. Gosh, what was that? Now, 13, 14 years ago. And somebody came to me and said, this overpass is never going to happen. And 347 is never going to be widened. And I remember thinking, game on, okay? It's go time. But it takes years. The stars have to align. You have to pour everything into it. Everything.

[1:40:26] I had the benefit and luxury of going to almost every single A dot meeting across the state

[1:40:34] for 11 years

[1:40:38] and it had wonderful outcomes but you took it to the next level and you're

[1:40:43] here today.

[1:40:45] Governance requires courage,

[1:40:53] courage is not easy but bold moves have phenomenal impacts and

[1:40:57] when we talk about economic development we talk about the future of the city.

[1:41:00] This is what it means to plan for the future.

[1:41:03] I encourage you to pass this, and of course, I'm in support of the IJ

[1:41:07] following should this pass.

[1:41:09] Thank you.

[1:41:14] And Christian, I'm glad I have a couple more speaker cards

[1:41:17] because I was telling myself, all day, don't get emotional.

[1:41:19] Don't get emotional.

[1:41:21] The next speaker is Rich Vidyela.

[1:41:24] And on deck is Robert Club.

[1:41:29] Good evening Mayor, council.

[1:41:31] Ladies and gentlemen, of Maricopa.

[1:41:34] How many people drive up to 347, at least once or twice a week?

[1:41:39] Look, you're actually here, God bless you.

[1:41:42] You made it.

[1:41:43] That's what this road's all about.

[1:41:45] I've stayed in front of you, not numerous times, giving a story of my buddy Ezi.

[1:41:51] Who's, like I said, in a vegetated state, and we'll probably never come out of it.

[1:41:55] We don't need anybody else dying or getting hurt or crashing on this road.

[1:42:00] I first want to thank the Council for doing what they're doing here today. It's very difficult to do attacks.

[1:42:05] We all don't like taxes, but you know, sometimes you got to as Christian said, you got to make money.

[1:42:11] The only way to make money is to spend some money. The other issue is I like to thank many people, and I'm going to start off with Theresa Martinez.

[1:42:19] She got us $19 million for the $347.

[1:42:23] Chris is working on $12 million, Chris Lopez, and TJ show is also got us $19 million.

[1:42:30] As a supervisor and a person who lives in this city as your supervisor, I was able to work with

[1:42:37] my board members, almost at council members.

[1:42:41] For the last three months I was able to convince them for $20 million, so

[1:42:52] this is a team effort

[1:42:54] And let me tell you something, those 1213, 1400, 100,000 emails, I get those, and I encourage them to continue to come.

[1:43:05] And I want to also thank Jen Daniels, because back in the day, which he was just on the board,

[1:43:10] was she would actually, we would hear the, the verbić, do it the Maricopa way, God bless and pass this tax.

[1:43:18] Amen. Thank you.

[1:43:24] All right. And last is Mr. Robert Clobe.

[1:43:28] And thank you for having me follow Christian in rich. Thanks, guys.

[1:43:38] Madam Mayor, Vice Mayor, City Council members. I'm Robert Clobe, I'm a resident of Glenwild.

[1:43:43] Thank you for the opportunity to address today on this proposed half-sense sales tax.

[1:43:47] Dedicated to improving state Route 347 and other future Ontario roads.

[1:43:51] I'd like to show you how your yes vote isn't merely about pavement.

[1:43:55] It's about safety, prosperity, and the promise of the stronger America.

[1:43:59] Enhancing safety, every day thousands of us, our families, our friends, and our neighbors travel

[1:44:04] straight out through 347.

[1:44:06] Over the past decade, congestion has been more than doubled and a serious risk of serious

[1:44:12] crashes.

[1:44:14] This dedicated funding lets us partner with Aida on extra travel lanes, turn zones, and

[1:44:18] overpasses, improvements proven to cut collisions and save lives. Driving economic growth,

[1:44:25] reliable roads keep commerce moving. When freight can get here without delay, our local

[1:44:29] businesses thrive and new businesses are drawn by easier access. More business opportunities

[1:44:33] mean people in America can shop local instead of enriching the communities of Chandler

[1:44:37] Phoenix, the MCAS grant. Studies show that every dollar spent on road infrastructure

[1:44:41] returns two to three dollars in economic activity, benefiting sales tax revenue wages and small

[1:44:47] business profits right here at home, ensuring accountability and local control.

[1:44:51] This tax applies only to road projects you have identified, and intergovernmental agreement

[1:44:55] will ensure full transparency with regular progress reports in public notification.

[1:45:00] Reasons can see exactly how and where these funds are spent. Finally, upholding fiscal fairness, at just 50 cents for every $100 spent, this tax will raise millions annually, enough to push aid out to tackle our worst challenges, but also prepare for future growth without digging into our general fund and raising property taxes. The choice is clear. We can accept longer commutes and greater risks for at least another decade waiting on aid out, or we can seize this opportunity to build a safer, more prosperous America.

[1:45:27] approving this half-cent sales tax isn't just practical, it's visionary. Together, let's

[1:45:32] pave the way to a brighter future. Thank you. Thank you very much.

[1:45:41] So that is the end of my

[1:45:42] speaker cards. Is there anyone else in the audience who would like to approach the podium? No.

[1:45:49] Yes, sir. Please state your name.

[1:45:54] Thank you, Mayor. Vice Mayor, council members and staff. My name is

[1:45:57] Ryan Safoya. I have been a proud resident of Maricopa for all 21 years of my very long life.

[1:46:04] But I have had the profound gift of living and growing up here and meeting families that have

[1:46:12] affected my life in ways I never would have imagined.

[1:46:15] They have brought me love that I did not think possible, but that love has also brought

[1:46:21] me pain when I stand next to my friends and mourn the loss of their parents or I stand next

[1:46:28] to their parents and mourn the loss of my friends.

[1:46:31] I have laid flowers on the tributes to these people on the 347, for many years, too many years and I'd like for there to be no more years.

[1:46:45] I hope that the result of the vote today means that going forward throughout my life and for my children, I can give more flowers in celebration rather than mourning.

[1:46:57] Thank you.

[1:46:58] Thank you.

[1:47:04] Is there anyone else that would like to approach the podium?

[1:47:09] All right, seeing none. I will close the public hearing.

[1:47:13] That'll take us to questions and comments from the council.

[1:47:17] Councilmember Manfredi.

[1:47:19] Yeah. Thank you.

[1:47:22] I'm quite surprised, actually. Sitting here today, I told my wife before I came today.

[1:47:28] I was getting dressed and she's like, well, be calm tonight. And she thought that it would be

[1:47:34] everybody in this room screaming at us and yelling at us and I'm quite surprised there's not

[1:47:41] one person here that stood at that podium and told us don't do that but I'm kind of a Facebook

[1:47:47] troll I guess you would say I'm one of those guys that's always on Facebook it's my thing I do it

[1:47:53] so I deal with it all day every day and I answer the questions that people put out there

[1:47:59] non-stop. As a council member, small business owner, I understand our daily challenges that we face in

[1:48:07] Maricopa. I'm an opponent of tax increases. From my whole life, I hate tax increases. It's one of the reasons

[1:48:15] why, you know, for the last six years, I've pushed to make sure we lower property taxes at all points.

[1:48:22] I mean, whenever we can, we're going to lower property taxes first, primarily property taxes as well as secondary.

[1:48:30] I've never voted on council for to raise taxes.

[1:48:34] I said that I would hardly ever do that.

[1:48:36] I won't do it.

[1:48:38] I've always said that.

[1:48:40] Stay around 347 though.

[1:48:41] Directly impacts our community safety, economy, and future.

[1:48:46] The SR-347 is more than just a road though.

[1:48:49] As we've heard from everybody out there,

[1:48:51] some very emotionally, some more less emotionally,

[1:48:54] I gotta say I almost broke down a little bit

[1:48:56] when I heard Cooper back there talking.

[1:48:57] I've seen him when he was a baby, and I've seen him when he was a little guy running around the neighborhood,

[1:49:03] and to see him stand up here and talk, I almost lost a little bit.

[1:49:07] So I can't imagine how Christians doing it.

[1:49:10] They're names are the same by the way if you didn't realize it last names.

[1:49:14] Thousands of residents rely on that route right there.

[1:49:17] For work, education, essential services to shop, to buy things.

[1:49:22] I mean, this 347 is used by every single person

[1:49:26] in the city of Maricopa, 58,000 cars

[1:49:30] or vehicles, sorry, including trucks,

[1:49:32] travel on it, traverse it on a daily basis.

[1:49:36] However, current infrastructure, as we know,

[1:49:39] is insufficient.

[1:49:41] It leads congestion delays, safety hazards,

[1:49:44] and if we all remember not many of us,

[1:49:47] because not many of us were here then,

[1:49:49] but the late 90s is when it was improved.

[1:49:51] We had a couple people mention it. Tina mentioned it that she was here when it happened and we expanded that road in the late 90s

[1:50:00] Crazy time, no remember. We didn't have many people that lived here back then. And we're probably

[1:50:06] what is it, a couple thousand people, so we're 70 times that now. In 2019, we made significant

[1:50:15] progress. We did that by completing a six-lane overpass over the Union Pacific Railroad,

[1:50:22] eliminating a major roadblock in the city that held up the city from any progress it had.

[1:50:28] And I tell this story and it's a funny story is that I was standing I was sitting in my car

[1:50:35] And I had an old Ford Bronco when New York conditioning at the time and I was sitting at the overpass

[1:50:41] Well, no, I'm sorry at the railroad crossing and I had this guy that lived close to me and he was he was the mayor of the city of Maricopa at the time and

[1:50:52] I was sitting there and I was like God think cuz you know what was there, right?

[1:50:58] So it was a good 20 minutes, I'm getting late for work, I'm like, son of a, and I texted him,

[1:51:02] I'm like, dude, fix this damn thing.

[1:51:05] It's ridiculous.

[1:51:06] It was mad.

[1:51:08] And he said to me, hey, I'm two cards ahead of you.

[1:51:11] And I'm like, dammit!

[1:51:14] At that point, he said, step up, do the work, get involved in it.

[1:51:18] We need help, we always need help.

[1:51:20] Run for office, do something.

[1:51:22] He had me help with the zoning code that we did, and then I ran for office here.

[1:51:26] And we worked our tails off to get that done, and that's what we're doing today when we look at the 347.

[1:51:33] It's uncommon for a city to do what we're doing, or at least talking about doing.

[1:51:39] And it takes that courage, and it takes the courage of sometimes going against what people want.

[1:51:46] or people say, but then again I sit here in this room, adding you a one person, telling

[1:51:53] me not to do it, not one person. Now if you listen to Facebook, this would be 90, 10 against

[1:52:01] it, right? But it's not true. I've saw people on Facebook say, I'm going to support this.

[1:52:08] This is a great idea, and they were attacked to the point where I was like, oh, I'm never

[1:52:12] this again. So the silent majority of the people understand why this has to be done.

[1:52:19] Adjusting the challenges in the 347 requires the United approach. The project is not just a city initiative.

[1:52:26] It's a collaborative effort between Hillary and a community,

[1:52:31] Penalty, Maricopa County, Maricopa County, Maricopa, Association of Governments,

[1:52:35] Arizona Department of Transportation, and yes, us, the city of Maricopa.

[1:52:39] But we can't sit back and say, fix this for us.

[1:52:43] That's not what happens.

[1:52:45] When you do that, you wind up waiting 10, 15, 30, 50 years.

[1:52:49] And you're sitting here going, why didn't that ever get done?

[1:52:53] That's not what we can do.

[1:52:55] I understand a hesitation regarding tax increases.

[1:52:58] I genuinely hate paying taxes, as I said.

[1:53:00] However, infrastructure projects of this magnitude require some substantial investment.

[1:53:06] Then stole the lot of what I was going to say, but I'm going to repeat some of it because it's important.

[1:53:12] I've consistently opposed unnecessary tax hikes.

[1:53:15] I recognize a strategic investment in our infrastructure, our essential.

[1:53:19] A sales tax increase of just a half a cent is a small price to pay for needed infrastructure and peace of mind.

[1:53:26] This tax will not be charged on our basic needs, like food and groceries.

[1:53:32] Well, it'll be charged on your fast food.

[1:53:36] Now you go out of that, so I'm going to pay some of this tax myself, right?

[1:53:39] Over 40% of it is paid for by development, new development.

[1:53:44] So that's one of the things I hear all the time is,

[1:53:47] make the new people pay for it.

[1:53:48] Well, we are, right?

[1:53:50] Sales tax does that.

[1:53:51] Property tax doesn't do that, right?

[1:53:53] Sales tax does that.

[1:53:55] Property tax makes us all pay in equal amount.

[1:53:58] A sales tax allows us to broaden the tax base and bring in more money than just from our residents.

[1:54:06] We've all said that, right?

[1:54:08] A portion is paid by folks visiting the city.

[1:54:10] A portion is paid by people that stop while they're coming through and going to San Diego.

[1:54:16] And stop at a local restaurant.

[1:54:17] A sales tax is a fairer way.

[1:54:20] I got a lot of stuff.

[1:54:23] Thankfully, she does it.

[1:54:24] She doesn't hit the button for us.

[1:54:26] And so I was surprised when Christian did two minutes.

[1:54:30] So anyway, there's been a lot of questions online.

[1:54:34] And what's going to happen is tomorrow.

[1:54:36] If we were to pass this tomorrow out there on the social media,

[1:54:40] people are going to be like, oh, it's pretty determined.

[1:54:42] I don't have a little bit of the energy complain.

[1:54:44] And they're going to say the same questions again.

[1:54:46] And I'll answer them again.

[1:54:48] But I want to answer some of them today for you guys.

[1:54:51] So you understand what's happening.

[1:54:53] And for the people watching online.

[1:54:54] and for the people who are going to read about this tomorrow.

[1:54:58] A lot of people ask why no...

[1:55:00] No vote on the tax, why there's no vote on the tax as a community. Why isn't the entire community voting?

[1:55:07] It's pretty simple. Ben explained some of it earlier. But the reality is, the city sales tax was established

[1:55:12] with an effective date of January 1st, 2004.

[1:55:18] A coinciding with the city's incorporation. This is not a new tax.

[1:55:23] The same as with our property taxes is not new.

[1:55:27] Our secondary property taxes were voted into place

[1:55:30] by the people of Maricopa and provided needed amenities

[1:55:33] like Copper Sky.

[1:55:36] So today we're not talking about a new tax,

[1:55:39] which I would agree.

[1:55:40] She'd go to voters if it's a new tax.

[1:55:43] We're talking about a minor adjustment to a current tax

[1:55:46] that's been in place for over 20 years.

[1:55:49] As I mentioned above,

[1:55:50] The city adjusts our voter, voter approved property taxes all the time.

[1:55:57] Unfortunately, I'm sorry, fortunately, they've gone down and not up, right?

[1:56:01] So there hasn't been a lot of complaints.

[1:56:03] But the reality is, we can do these things.

[1:56:06] We can raise our taxes, lower our taxes.

[1:56:08] These are voter approved things in the first place.

[1:56:10] It just so happens, this one has not changed in over 20 years.

[1:56:18] I only got a couple more.

[1:56:20] Second, you'll notice some folks from A.D. and our meeting today.

[1:56:23] I mean, I think they're ready to get this ball rolling.

[1:56:28] So remember before when Ben talked about how much of a delay

[1:56:32] this could cause by going to voters in a year and a half

[1:56:35] from now or 18 months, I think they're ready to get the ball rolling.

[1:56:39] I think they're sick of seeing us at their meetings.

[1:56:42] I mean, I would be sick of us too.

[1:56:45] They're sick of our emails.

[1:56:46] The legislatures, sick of our emails.

[1:56:48] I mean, when I talk to people from the legislators,

[1:56:50] They're like, well, not to reach, of course.

[1:56:55] They're not sick of it, but of course, some of the people that don't live here

[1:56:59] or represent us are like, hey, stop the emails.

[1:57:01] We know what we keep going.

[1:57:06] They want to get things going.

[1:57:07] The city cannot simply sit and wait when hands open,

[1:57:10] expect in the road with no contribution.

[1:57:13] We must be ready to commit, and we must be ready to commit now.

[1:57:17] If we wait to the end of 2026 to host an election for a new tax, believe it or not, that's

[1:57:25] what we did before, we're props for 16 and 417.

[1:57:29] That was a new tax, and yeah, even though it would pass, we had a deal with a year of just

[1:57:36] the first court case that we lost and we won a card case and we lost the Supreme Court

[1:57:42] And eventually, you leave it in the hands of judges.

[1:57:48] I prefer not to do that.

[1:57:50] I prefer to leave that in the hands of the people in Maricopa.

[1:57:54] Funding must be established to start the expansion,

[1:57:57] not waiting to 27 or 28, if it's unacceptable to me,

[1:58:01] it should be unacceptable to everybody who uses that road daily

[1:58:05] to push another two years ahead.

[1:58:07] It just doesn't make sense.

[1:58:09] It has to happen.

[1:58:10] In 2017, like Ben mentioned, Prop 416-417 passed with a super-majority in the city of

[1:58:17] Maricopa at 58%, and 2022, Prop 469 was a proposed tax that failed in Penal County.

[1:58:26] It failed.

[1:58:28] But Maricopa County, a Maricopa City residents passed it by 63%.

[1:58:33] That is again a super-majority of the people of Maricopa, understand the needs that we

[1:58:39] face. And in 2024, Prop 486 extending our half-cent maintenance facts, which is not used for

[1:58:46] new construction, but only for maintenance, passed at 74% in the city of Maricopa.

[1:58:54] So when people tell me, why not just go to a vote of the people? We have. The people of

[1:59:01] Maricopa want this road taken care of. And suffering, I'm not suffering, I'm sorry, I don't

[1:59:06] to say it that, but dealing with the people on social media who are pushing to say, no, no,

[1:59:12] no, go to the vote, go to the vote, and waiting two years makes no sense to me. None. I'll

[1:59:18] get to local roads in a minute, but we need to make sure we cover them. Another question

[1:59:22] of common here is the city's not, it's not a city road, it's a state highway, and 100%

[1:59:27] true, this is not a city road, it is a state highway. But it's a state highway that 100% of

[1:59:35] America for residents use.

[1:59:37] 100% of us.

[1:59:38] There's not one person that lives in America, but it doesn't

[1:59:40] use this road.

[1:59:43] We use it to get back and forth to work, visit doctors, shop,

[1:59:46] get to the airport, entertain ourselves in the valley.

[1:59:48] We all use it.

[1:59:49] We're not looking to fund an entire project either.

[1:59:53] In the city of America, but we're looking to bring together

[1:59:55] some money to invest a portion of the construction.

[1:59:58] It's a little, maybe a little above.

[2:00:00] 20% of the total cost of the panel county side of expansion. So we're not paying for all of it. We're taking a little bit of money and putting it towards it. And I'll go over that now.

[2:00:11] And estimated $230 million is used for is needed to widen the 347. It's a lot of money. The good news is 143 million of that is panel county alone.

[2:00:24] Meaning 87 million or 90 million dollars comes from Maricopa County and in Maricopa County

[2:00:30] they pass the half-sense sales tax just recently that provides that 87 million dollars.

[2:00:36] So I like when people online say, I won't shop in the city Maricopa if you pass this.

[2:00:41] I only shop up north.

[2:00:43] That's good.

[2:00:44] It provides the 90 million dollars.

[2:00:45] I don't care where you shop both sides of the county.

[2:00:49] Shop in Maricopa County shop here.

[2:00:50] I prefer you shop here because I like the local

[2:00:54] economy helped but if you shop in Maricopa County is going to help us too just don't shop

[2:00:58] in Casa Grande. They ain't helping. $20 million is proposed by Penal County and this is something

[2:01:07] we've been working on for years and having rich there allows us to finally put together a coordinated

[2:01:13] effort from Penal County from another $20 million. So what we're talking about is about $30 million

[2:01:19] from the city of Maricopa, sounds like a lot of money, but over 20 years it's not that much.

[2:01:27] It's really not that much money, and that leaves about $80,90 million to be funded by A.D.

[2:01:33] Now if you can give A.D. a project in which more than half 60% or so is paid for already, it's much easier to get on a five-year plan.

[2:01:44] There are multiple projects on the 347, the rig's TI,

[2:01:48] Moment Way, on the cement plan road, Casa Blanca,

[2:01:52] but today we're discussing one fix and one fix only,

[2:01:55] it is widening of the 347.

[2:01:58] We're remember 58,000 cars or vehicles

[2:02:01] are putting it to the test every single day.

[2:02:06] All right, so I know people right now are saying

[2:02:09] shut up and move on, so I'll move on.

[2:02:12] One other question I get

[2:02:14] is the governor stole our money.

[2:02:18] Well, unfortunately, it's kind of true, but not really true.

[2:02:22] There's no context to what they say out there,

[2:02:25] but this comments made by some, and it's correct,

[2:02:28] but not entirely accurate, as it leaves out

[2:02:31] a whole bunch of context.

[2:02:32] One, it's talking about the rig's TI,

[2:02:35] and not widening of the 347, right?

[2:02:38] So while facing a budget shortfall, the governor

[2:02:41] and the legislature had to cut some projects, but they did not, they did not cut the

[2:02:46] rigs TI. What they did is moved it forward because, unfortunately, even if they funded

[2:02:52] it a year ago, eight out was not ready to build it. So they moved it forward a couple of years.

[2:02:57] It wasn't stolen, it was pushed forward just a little. What we're doing today and rich mentioned

[2:03:02] that when he was talking is bringing some of that money back into place and putting together a plan

[2:03:07] to build the rigs TI, hopefully at the same time we're building these lanes. Hopefully. Well,

[2:03:13] figure that out. But what it does is it saves us money by doing it together. So this is

[2:03:17] important stuff to remember. All this stuff you read online, all this and you guys all agree,

[2:03:23] because nobody stood up and said no. But there's people listening online and there's people are

[2:03:27] going to watch this tomorrow. I want them to understand that stuff they see online is not always true.

[2:03:33] And just because it's on the internet, does not make it true.

[2:03:38] All right, so the governor didn't steal our money.

[2:03:41] Now, here's the best one, right?

[2:03:44] We did this before and they stole our money.

[2:03:48] I always ask who they is, because it kind of driving nuts.

[2:03:52] But you're again, but they're correct.

[2:03:54] We did this before and then talked about it before.

[2:04:00] I should get endorsement money.

[2:04:03] You're again correct with this one here.

[2:04:04] We had a county-wide tax vote by the people of a large majority that we mentioned before past this.

[2:04:12] I've said publicly and we're ready to reiterate now, with the county-wide tax was flawed because it only

[2:04:16] taxed the first $10,000 and then it had a tiered system and not left a crack.

[2:04:22] And if you give the judicial system a crack, it creates, I don't know, a big, big split.

[2:04:30] And then what they do is they have a split vote and they say four to three, hey, you can't have that tax and then we're all screwed, right?

[2:04:38] So what you have to do is you have to ensure that when you put something together, you put it together correctly, and that's what we're doing today.

[2:04:45] This left a small crack for some to challenge in court. Soon after the half-cent, county tax was passed, the Conservative Goldwater Institute decided that they're going to sue.

[2:04:56] And they sued.

[2:05:01] It's crazy that I didn't even know if they had standing to sue there from Phoenix, who knows? I don't know. But they sue us, and they challenged the new tax, because they believed that two tier system was not allowed. The county lost in court, the county of one in court, the county won on appeal. The county lost finally as a four, three votes of the Supreme Court, by the way, one of the four was used to be the leader of the Goldwater Institute. So, go figure.

[2:05:28] This, the money then was decided at the time what should happen is pretty simple.

[2:05:34] They said, let's give it back to business.

[2:05:37] Not you, not you, not the people who paid it.

[2:05:39] Let's give it back to businesses because hey, why not?

[2:05:43] It's not their money.

[2:05:45] So it became a win fall for businesses in Penalty.

[2:05:48] So instead of using that money on roads in Penalty, what we did is we said, hey, Wal-Mart,

[2:05:52] would you could use a check for a cup of million dollars and we gave them their money right so

[2:05:57] businesses were able to then apply for refund and as of last month about a little over half of

[2:06:03] that money has been refunded to businesses in Pinal County and the fight happening today now

[2:06:09] is what happens when the time to request a refund is no longer available what happens to that money

[2:06:16] We in Penal County, especially as I hope in Maricopa, say,

[2:06:22] hey, give it to us for user for roads.

[2:06:24] But unfortunately, there's some folks who think, no,

[2:06:28] you should not be able to use it for roads because they want to punish us

[2:06:32] and say we should use it in the state for roads, not just in Penal County.

[2:06:37] So we're working through it.

[2:06:38] Trees says going to fight for us as we know our legislators are going to fight for us

[2:06:43] and we're going to make sure that that money comes back to Penal County.

[2:06:46] But the reality is we're never going to get enough to do the 347 with it because maybe this 40 million left

[2:06:52] Divide it by per capita in the county. Maybe we get four five million dollars at it

[2:06:57] Maybe

[2:06:59] All right, so anyway, I apologize. This was a business gift. It was sent out to the businesses and so yes

[2:07:05] They stole your money

[2:07:07] It wasn't me. It wasn't the county. It wasn't the city

[2:07:10] It was the people who were behind the lawsuit. I don't want to say gold water. It's oh, I said it

[2:07:16] Um, decided that you couldn't have your money back. Okay? So last one. Well, no, it's not dang it.

[2:07:24] Huh? Yeah.

[2:07:27] All right, so this tax

[2:07:29] This tax will be used for more than a 347 people complain about that online and say it and it is true again

[2:07:36] It's true, but there's there's understanding of it. It's going to be used for the 347. Yes, that's what we're going to use for

[2:07:43] Ben showed you a slide that said there's

[2:07:46] Other things that are going to be used for this is not a trick. It's not a bait and switch

[2:07:51] We're going to use it for the 347 widening 347 winding project. They were going to use it. I hope to complete the green road loop

[2:08:00] An eastern loop off the 347 taking people off of smithanky taking people off of lake view alleviating that pressure in town

[2:08:12] fixing the Y 347. So even if we're doing other things that are not on 347, they are impacting the 347.

[2:08:21] This tax is used to make sure the commuting corridors in the city of Maricopa are good.

[2:08:29] And that's what we all need in one. So lastly, someone's been spreading a false rumor that A.

[2:08:34] thought has already the widening project on the five-year plan.

[2:08:40] It's not true, false, mistaken, and I've told them a few times, and to be clear, that

[2:08:45] is a hundred percent misinformation.

[2:08:48] While the 347 is mentioned on the A.D. plans, it's an illustrator project that's not funded.

[2:08:53] This is the conversation we're having to do that in conclusion.

[2:09:01] I usually don't talk to this much, I really don't, I really don't.

[2:09:04] The goal is to create more ways to get in and out of Maricopa, everyone wants this done.

[2:09:10] It seems that some want a magical road fairy, though, to come in and fix the roads and

[2:09:15] not have to pay for it and that's not happening.

[2:09:19] Somebody has to pay for everything and let my father told me nothing is ever free.

[2:09:27] Improvement SR347 is not just about reducing commute times, it's about ensuring the safety of our residents, fostering economic growth and preparing our city for the future.

[2:09:39] We can build stronger safer America for future generations by working together and making informed decisions.

[2:09:46] So thank you so much for everybody that came today.

[2:09:49] And thank you the Mayor. Thank you everybody on staff for giving me the opportunity to chat a little bit.

[2:09:54] And that's it.

[2:09:56] Thank you.

[2:10:03] Council member, ghetto.

[2:10:06] I almost fell asleep. Not at all. Not at all. Not at all. Not at all. You've told me that this is so important. You did a great job. You did a good job.

[2:10:17] I approach this decision tonight with some mixed emotions and I wanted to explain those a little bit today and perhaps even explain my vote a little bit.

[2:10:25] Two of the emotions I wanted to describe today is a little anger and then on the flip side

[2:10:30] some pride.

[2:10:31] Those of you know me pretty well I don't get angry hardly ever and today I'm really frustrated

[2:10:39] that I've been put into the position of violating some of the principles that I hold

[2:10:45] pretty important to that of being anti-tax.

[2:10:48] I feel strongly that most taxes are horribly immoral and we just don't need more taxes.

[2:10:58] But we have a broken system that has been set up by our state to fund these roads.

[2:11:05] And it's not working.

[2:11:07] We have a lot of great partners in ADOT.

[2:11:08] We have a lot of wonderful partners in our state legislature, but we don't have collectively

[2:11:14] state a lot of resolve to fix this issue in its core. But we still have a broken road and it still needs to be fixed yesterday not ten twenty thirty years into the future. And so that's why I'm a little frustrated

[2:11:30] This is why I'm a little angry today being put into this position where I have to consider raising taxes here on our residents and those who shop here in a city to fund a project that really

[2:11:39] does need to be funded on the state level.

[2:11:42] Now having said all of that, let me come to the more positive side of Pride, has been said

[2:11:46] here several times very eloquently by several of our speakers today that we belong

[2:11:51] to a very special city.

[2:11:53] And we were not the individuals that are going to sit here and let a problem be a problem

[2:11:58] without trying to find a solution.

[2:12:01] Without trying to think outside of the box, trying to figure out how do we continue to

[2:12:05] move this ball forward and literally a breakneck speed.

[2:12:10] We are moving quick in our development as a city.

[2:12:13] And so I'm proud that we have such a remarkable team that has spent so much time, so much

[2:12:20] energy in developing this plan moving forward.

[2:12:23] And I'm excited to be a part of that as well.

[2:12:28] The 347 has to be fixed.

[2:12:29] I have not met anyone that I've talked to in the city that disagrees with that statement.

[2:12:34] It has to be fixed.

[2:12:35] But infrastructure requires funding, and that's where we are then this evening.

[2:12:41] I do want to say that money, however, is only part of the problem.

[2:12:45] It also takes relationships to make this type of a project happen.

[2:12:49] And this is another part of why I'm so proud to be a part of this team

[2:12:52] is that our team has worked so diligently over the last several decades, even,

[2:12:57] to build those relationships with our state partners, with our county partners,

[2:13:01] partners with our eight dot partners, with our federal partners, with our tribal partners to be able

[2:13:06] to move this project forward.

[2:13:08] And so I just want to commit, and not only are we adding, if this goes through tonight in

[2:13:13] the affirmative, money to the solution, but we're also bringing decades of relationships

[2:13:18] to the solution as well, and I hope that we will have a speedy resolution to 347 issues.

[2:13:25] Lastly, maybe just the message to our residents, even if this passes this evening, we must be patient with this process.

[2:13:34] We want it fixed yesterday, it needed to be fixed yesterday. But we don't have that magic wand, as it was mentioned,

[2:13:41] and this is a lengthy process, and it's going to include some growing pains.

[2:13:46] The 347 is going to be more of a nightmare than it is today when that construction hits.

[2:13:52] We're going to work with our partners to make it as painless as possible, but there will be pain in that process.

[2:13:59] So please, Maricopa, slow down, calm down, drive more carefully, and please shop local.

[2:14:10] That will help fund this project at a faster clip as well.

[2:14:14] And so with that Mayor, I intend to vote in the affirmative of this ordinance this evening for those reasons.

[2:14:20] and I appreciate you allowing me the time to explain.

[2:14:23] Thank you, Councilmember Ghetto.

[2:14:25] Councilmember Mars.

[2:14:29] It's all been said.

[2:14:33] We've heard the story.

[2:14:35] We've heard from the people.

[2:14:37] Let's get this vote done.

[2:14:40] I moved to approve this ordinance.

[2:14:42] I'll wait for a motion for just a little bit, Bob.

[2:14:45] But I'll come back to you.

[2:14:47] Okay, Councilmember Leerman.

[2:14:53] Thank you, man.

[2:14:56] I've lived in my cup of for 21 years

[2:14:58] and in the amount of time you have to.

[2:15:00] I have a lot of conversations about the 347. I've had conversations with grandparents, moms and dads and teenagers, working as a peaceful counselor. I have lots of conversations with parents whose children are getting their driver's license and teenagers who are getting on 347 for the first time, and so there's been a lot of talk about this road over the last years.

[2:15:24] I want to thank each person who is there tonight at City Hall and those who have the courage to step back and speak on this issue.

[2:15:33] I want to thank you, Mayor, for the our leadership and the spirit head of 347 facts.com and really creating a movement and momentum in our city.

[2:15:45] like Mayor Price said about kind of taking it a step forward and so I want to thank you Mayor for your leadership on this particular issue.

[2:15:55] I just have three short reasons why I also support this decision.

[2:16:01] Number one is safety, timing is critical.

[2:16:04] We don't have any more time to wait any more longer.

[2:16:07] I believe that this vote is a life-saving vote and so it's not an option for me to vote now.

[2:16:12] Number two, there's another more talk we need to take action and thank you for the opportunity to position us to have the ability to take action.

[2:16:24] Number three, I'm voting yes because parents try to get home to make it on time for their child's birthday party.

[2:16:31] People are trying to get to work on time, get to a doctor's appointment on time, make a flight on time, and just get home after the long bad day.

[2:16:40] We need to get people home safely and in a reasonable amount of time, and that's not happening right now, and it's not acceptable.

[2:16:50] The last thing I just want to mention, and then I'll be done, is I've been talked to about taxation without representation,

[2:16:58] and I can tell you that out of all the conversations I've had with people, this is a super majority that people are in favor of this,

[2:17:06] and they want the 347 fixed.

[2:17:10] It's a very, very small portion of people

[2:17:13] that I've talked to that are not in favor of this.

[2:17:16] And so I feel like I do have a very good pulse

[2:17:21] on what people want and on this topic.

[2:17:25] Thank you, Mayor.

[2:17:26] Thank you, Councillor Layerman.

[2:17:28] Councillor Nourth.

[2:17:31] Thank you, Mayor.

[2:17:32] I'm just quickly, I think a lot has been said here tonight.

[2:17:36] And I think it's all been very important

[2:17:37] And I really appreciate everyone who came out to voice

[2:17:41] at your opinion.

[2:17:42] I'm thrilled that they were all in support

[2:17:45] of the Ascent Cell Tax.

[2:17:46] But I just really thank you for being part

[2:17:49] of the solution coming and speaking to your elected officials.

[2:17:52] I think that's so important.

[2:17:54] And I know it takes time.

[2:17:55] And it takes courage.

[2:17:56] And I want to thank you for that.

[2:17:57] I also want to thank the 347Facts.com team.

[2:18:04] Because without them, we would not be here today.

[2:18:07] And that's the truth.

[2:18:09] Without them, we would not be this far down the road.

[2:18:12] And we would not be at this stage.

[2:18:14] And we would not have the opportunities

[2:18:15] that we have tonight, because some volunteers

[2:18:18] that were organized by our amazing mayor got together

[2:18:23] and started, I've been in politics a long time.

[2:18:26] One of the top three most significant grassroots campaigns

[2:18:29] I've ever seen.

[2:18:31] By people who just got together and said,

[2:18:34] here's a problem, how are we going to fix it?

[2:18:36] It's impressive, what you've done, your dedication, your commitment, it's truly remarkable, and I really just want to thank you for that, it's very important.

[2:18:46] And so I did not want this to go by without thanking 347FACS.com.

[2:18:52] Just shortly, when I about a year ago, I sat down there and answered questions from the council when I applied for the vacancy.

[2:19:01] And the Council asked a lot of great questions, and one of them was, what is your biggest priority for the city of Maricopa?

[2:19:10] And I said fixing the 347.

[2:19:12] Because that is the biggest priority for the people of Maricopa.

[2:19:16] And it's an issue that we have to address.

[2:19:18] And so I stood there, and I answered.

[2:19:20] And so there's no way I could not support doing something tonight to help make that promise come true.

[2:19:28] And to really provide the solutions we need to the 347 and the transportation corridors because you guys I'm excited about this 347.

[2:19:39] But the other transportation corridors in combination with this, it's going to be life changing, it's going to be amazing.

[2:19:47] And our city has been planning for this and we've been having the conversations and I'm just super excited about what this will bring.

[2:19:52] some thank you mayor for your leadership on this you truly been an amazing leader on this

[2:19:59] issue and I think.

[2:20:00] Thank you. Thank you very much, Councilor Renoir. You're trying to make me cry, aren't you? I am. No one's done it yet, so. Yeah. No, not yet. Okay, Vice Mayor Wade. Thank you, Madam Mayor. My fellow council members. Community.

[2:20:19] I used to drive the 347 every day twice a day going back and forth between the now eight year in downtown Phoenix. I've seen a lot of accidents. It's seen a lot of cars put a little side of the road. Was actually engaged in one. What?

[2:20:33] The young lady they hit me from the back said, this is my third accident I've had in three weeks.

[2:20:41] I gave her one of my counseling with my cards and said, I tell you what, next time you get on the road you give me a call let me know that you're out there.

[2:20:49] Because I don't want to be out there at the same time as you.

[2:20:54] But where I do want to be and where I have been for the last three cycles is a member of this council.

[2:21:01] And I've seen a lot of it, and I didn't realize when I came on council that I was going

[2:21:06] to be walking through large buildings, lengthy buildings, what a guy whose stride was twice

[2:21:14] his mind when he talked to the people about improving equality of life from America.

[2:21:20] It was the overpass that we were talking about, but it's the same thing, this community support,

[2:21:28] community safety thinking about our children.

[2:21:31] I'm a frantic, put a 16-year-old grandson who will eventually get on the 347 even though

[2:21:39] I told him not to, because he just wanted to see what was all about.

[2:21:44] So I'm pleased I've been blessed to be a part of this.

[2:21:50] I'm also going to be blessed as a part of the solution that's going to happen here tonight.

[2:21:54] You're going to do the right thing.

[2:21:57] You're going to make it so that you're a expense,

[2:22:01] that you're just speaking out, you're writing,

[2:22:03] you're contacting folks, you're visiting visits,

[2:22:06] all been worthwhile.

[2:22:09] And you're going to do the right thing.

[2:22:10] What you know what?

[2:22:11] I thank you for me being able to now

[2:22:13] to go to the supermarket,

[2:22:16] and the vegetable section,

[2:22:19] and by vegetables,

[2:22:19] to sit there and talk in about the 347.

[2:22:23] You know, I don't have a problem with it whatsoever.

[2:22:26] We want to talk with this talk.

[2:22:28] But let's talk about reality.

[2:22:30] Let's talk when we have those driveway conversations.

[2:22:34] They go way off fast Facebook, way off past Twitter,

[2:22:40] just because someone thought they knew what they thought they knew

[2:22:44] and didn't know what they didn't know.

[2:22:47] So, I want to thank you for that, when I thank you for the fact that how we're going to vote.

[2:22:53] And I assure you that when we do the right thing, the other members of the community will step in line and go, you know what?

[2:23:01] That wasn't that that hurt to decide.

[2:23:05] Living for my kids, living for my grandson, living for your kids and your grandchildren, means something.

[2:23:13] And you're going to do something right about it here when it comes time to make the vote

[2:23:18] to decide to move forward.

[2:23:20] And we're going to be here again for something else, something down the road.

[2:23:23] It's going to cause us to come together like this and we'll be able to say,

[2:23:26] you know, when we had that fight about the 347,

[2:23:30] that was nothing compared to what this is.

[2:23:34] And we'll do this.

[2:23:35] We'll make sure we get this done.

[2:23:38] So thank you for doing that.

[2:23:40] Thank you for giving us a look.

[2:23:42] I look through the window as to where we're going.

[2:23:46] Thank you to pioneers of Maricopa for building a place

[2:23:50] where people like you and I could come and sit down

[2:23:53] and have this conversation and feel like

[2:23:55] we're a part of something special.

[2:23:58] They're gonna have to roll me out of here

[2:24:01] because I'm not going anywhere.

[2:24:03] I love Maricopa, I love what is done for my family.

[2:24:06] I love what's done for me, it slows me into life, I love the guy they had to hide, the

[2:24:13] long stride, they took me on their shoulders and taught me things that I would never

[2:24:18] have been in the thought of, I would never tell myself, you know, city councilmen, city

[2:24:22] miracle, are you kidding me? But then, as I saw and looked where people were doing and

[2:24:28] how people were treating each other and how they were concerned about the well-being of

[2:24:34] other. All in. All in. And I'm all in on this. So come on join with me. Let's get this

[2:24:43] tough.

[2:24:50] Thank you, Vice Mayor. All right. I'm going to keep it brief because man, what a great

[2:24:57] great sharing. He's over here apologizing.

[2:25:00] A great sharing by all of you. Thank you very, very much. I just want to share a couple of things and some fun things. One of the first fun things is I went to the second and third open house. Why to engage with the people that were there? And it was phenomenal. The people that were there, some came in support, some came against. And I had fabulous conversations with all of them, but the ones that I was most amazed with were the ones that were against. And once they walked around the room and saw

[2:25:30] the same boards that you saw here tonight, they made it a point to come over to one of us

[2:25:36] or maybe many of us and say, you changed my mind. You changed my mind because this is being done

[2:25:44] the right way. I asked one lady, a sweet lady, she came in so against the text and so loud and I just

[2:25:55] I'll hold her around the room and just enjoy experiencing what she wanted to learn.

[2:26:01] Her name is Irene.

[2:26:02] I won't give you her last name, but she said I could, but I'm just going to give you

[2:26:05] Irene.

[2:26:06] And she came up to me at the end of the last open house and said, Mayor, I'm in support of this.

[2:26:14] I can't understand why I was against it.

[2:26:17] We all know why we all hate taxes, right?

[2:26:20] But just for her to just openly share that with me, and many of them did, and so I really appreciate everyone that attended, and I enjoyed those interactions phenomenally.

[2:26:34] When Mayor Price decided to move on to a different job, and he said, here you go, Mayor 347, and I'm like,

[2:26:50] group that will help us get to our elected officials at the state, our elected officials at

[2:26:58] the county, the Healer River Indian community, even amongst ourselves, get to us, you know,

[2:27:05] if you need to do that. This group, I put the call out, I ended up with about 10 people,

[2:27:11] and you know what, I still have those 10 people plus a few more. It's amazing. I love what

[2:27:17] and said he said I came here not wanting to do this and I joined and I'm telling you he has spoken at some of the eight dot meetings with passion. All of them have. It's amazing.

[2:27:29] So I too want to make sure we recognize those 347 facts.com because just to put a website together is phenomenal.

[2:27:37] But that group is responsible for well over 1400 emails going to over 100 elected officials.

[2:27:47] and helping to make a change, including the State Transportation Board, and A.D., as well.

[2:27:54] That's impressive.

[2:27:55] And that board, I just love them.

[2:27:57] They're not really a board.

[2:27:58] We're not official.

[2:27:59] We just want to make a change.

[2:28:01] But that group of people, we've been talking fun things about, you know, if we end up on the five-year plan,

[2:28:08] what do we do next?

[2:28:09] They don't want to stop.

[2:28:10] And we were talking about, and I've been working with Hila River to put four by eight signs out on 347.

[2:28:16] And one of our ideas loved it, loved it, was, and Tina, are you still here?

[2:28:23] Yeah, it came from her husband.

[2:28:26] You can cry on my shoulder, but don't drive on my shoulder.

[2:28:30] And I'm like, that's a good one.

[2:28:32] So, be looking out sometime in the near future,

[2:28:34] and I want to thank Global Water for financially helping us be able to do that

[2:28:39] when the time comes. I really appreciate that.

[2:28:42] We've developed partnerships with A.D. and many other organizations like has been stated tonight.

[2:28:49] But I really want to thank A.D. I want to thank the State Transportation Board.

[2:28:54] They accept us with smiles every single time we show up.

[2:29:00] And the fact that they're both here tonight is amazing to me.

[2:29:04] And I appreciate you being here tonight because this is important.

[2:29:08] I want to thank our reps, Representative Martinez, Representative Lopez.

[2:29:14] I do want to thank Senator Shope, even though he was unable to come.

[2:29:18] And you know who else I want to thank, I want to thank Representative Brett Roberts, who

[2:29:23] used to be a representative and got the initial money for Rig's Road Overpass.

[2:29:29] Thank you all.

[2:29:31] And to our State Transportation Board, and to A.D.

[2:29:34] If those policies that you have in place didn't exist,

[2:29:39] I don't know if we'd be here tonight and I'm hoping

[2:29:41] because the final decision will be made on June 20th,

[2:29:46] and that's when we will know for certain.

[2:29:48] But I'm hoping that we will have a solution formulated

[2:29:53] in on that June 20th, final five-year plan for ADA.

[2:29:57] But those policies helped us.

[2:30:00] Let's put this together in terms of matching contributions. Just so you know, every year, the funding for transportation in the state of Arizona for things that are responsible to the state.

[2:30:13] The funding gap grows every single year. And you know what happens, that makes that funding gap, especially for new roads, is that the maintenance and the costs, just as city manager bitters talked about, goes up year after year after year.

[2:30:27] And what does that mean for the funding that hasn't changed since 1990 is that the ability to

[2:30:36] fund new roads, expansions of roads, new roads is shrinking every single year.

[2:30:44] This is a problem because we are growing at such a fast rate and not just the city of

[2:30:57] you start considering how are we going to solve this problem?

[2:31:00] Because it's impacting the rural areas that need the funding for new roads, huge problem.

[2:31:07] One question, and I'm speculating, but if we don't take this action tonight,

[2:31:15] would we even

[2:31:16] see the IGA as the next agenda item?

[2:31:21] Yeah, thank you, Madam Mayor.

[2:31:23] The next agenda item for the Intergovernment Agreement between the City of Maricopa and the Arizona

[2:31:27] Department of Transportation would not be necessary if we don't pass the sales tax

[2:31:32] issue.

[2:31:33] Exactly.

[2:31:34] That means it wouldn't be on the five-year plan more than likely.

[2:31:37] I don't want to speculate that it would or that it wouldn't, but we are number nine and

[2:31:41] there are several ahead of us that aren't funded and then more that are funded.

[2:31:46] And so I don't want to speculate, but I believe that we're so close and I hope we crossed

[2:31:52] the line on June 20th.

[2:31:54] Again, for our health, our safety, and our welfare, those are the most important things to me of our people, we must do this.

[2:32:05] So any additional comments questions from the council?

[2:32:08] Okay, given that.

[2:32:09] Can I speak?

[2:32:10] No.

[2:32:14] Given that, I'm going to go back to Councilmember Mal, he was joking.

[2:32:17] I would never tell him that.

[2:32:18] I'm going to go back to Councilmember Mars for emotion.

[2:32:22] Yes, I'm happy to move that we approve this ordinance now.

[2:32:27] Do I have a second?

[2:32:29] Second.

[2:32:30] By Councilmember Nor.

[2:32:31] Any additional comments?

[2:32:35] All in favor say aye?

[2:32:38] Any opposed?

[2:32:40] That motion carries.

[2:32:54] All right.

[2:32:54] That takes us to our next funded agenda item.

[2:32:57] Is item 8.4.

[2:33:00] It's regarding the IGA with A.D.

[2:33:02] And I'm a turn it over to Ben for a few words.

[2:33:04] Thank you madam mayor members of the council as previously mentioned this is the

[2:33:09] intergovernmental agreement between the city of Maricopa and the Arizona Department of Transportation

[2:33:14] Basically what this does is agrees creates a commitment for the city of Maricopa to make a payment to a dot by June 1st of

[2:33:23] 2026

[2:33:24] In exchange for making that payment a dot will continue with the design and construction of the widening state route

[2:33:30] 347 and he overages in the costs beyond the 50 million dollars would not be the responsibility

[2:33:37] of the city of America.

[2:33:38] That would be the responsibility of theirs on an apartment of transportation.

[2:33:42] So with that, happy to answer any questions.

[2:33:44] Very good.

[2:33:45] Any additional questions, comments?

[2:33:49] Not yet.

[2:33:52] I just want to make a point there.

[2:33:55] Let me think, what was the point?

[2:33:57] So much information.

[2:34:02] I'm so sorry.

[2:34:03] I lost it by Manfredi over there.

[2:34:08] Oh.

[2:34:09] I do have a speaker card.

[2:34:10] Mr. Robert Clobe.

[2:34:14] Okay.

[2:34:14] Very good.

[2:34:15] Very good.

[2:34:17] That will then take us to a motion.

[2:34:21] I'd like to make a motion to approve IGA25-7.

[2:34:25] Thank you.

[2:34:26] Do I have a second?

[2:34:27] Seconded by Vice Mayor Wade.

[2:34:29] Any additional comments?

[2:34:31] Yes.

[2:34:32] I remember what I wanted to say.

[2:34:34] So I was asked about how, and, and, and, and, and, and City Manager bidder explained it very well in terms of how do I follow the money? Why do you need it a 20 year? Why not a five year? Why not a 10 year? And the answer was very well given in terms of your summary of this IGA. We are immediately going to turn around and write a check in some time between now and what was the date you said? June 1st.

[2:35:00] June 1st, for $50 million to aid out. You don't have to follow the money. You don't have to follow the money. That money will be consumed in six and a half years of this half-cent sales tax.

[2:35:14] And so I don't want you to worry about how to follow the money. You can because we showed you a way. But that's an important point to make, and I think it's very important to understand.

[2:35:25] And then the other projects will extend the ability to do those projects and help the community in corridor.

[2:35:32] That was my point.

[2:35:33] Any additional comments, questions?

[2:35:37] Seeing none, I have a motion in a second.

[2:35:39] I'll in favor say aye.

[2:35:40] Aye.

[2:35:41] Any opposed?

[2:35:43] Thank you.

[2:35:43] And that motion carries.

[2:35:51] Okay.

[2:35:52] So we're going to pause the meeting here, because I have to tell you, I believe in my 10 years

[2:35:57] serving. This is the most important meeting I have ever been a part of. So important because

[2:36:05] it saves lives for on 347. It gets us a solution on 347. It's an important meeting. And this

[2:36:13] IGA is important. So I'd like to take the time to invite Council. There's a table down there.

[2:36:19] And if you'll stand behind the table, Council, I'd like to invite Senator Schopen. He was not able

[2:36:25] make it. Representative Martinez and Representative Lopez. Thank you for being here tonight.

[2:36:32] I'd like to invite a supervisor video. I would like to invite up eight-at-state transportation

[2:36:37] board chair, Jen Daniels. And I would like to invite up eight-at-s representative Stacey

[2:36:43] Goin. And I would like to invite Katie Ben and Annie Staff that helped to serve at the open

[2:36:50] houses because you are a major part of this evening as well, and I'm not done yet.

[2:36:57] This is going to be a big crowd of may take.

[2:36:58] We may not have anyone in the crowd left.

[2:37:00] I would like to invite up the 347 facts team, please come up, and Mayor Anderson was attempting

[2:37:07] to be here, and was unable to be here, Mayor Price, please come forward, Mayor Anthony Smith

[2:37:14] wanted to be here, but he had a conflict as well, Mr. Ron Fleming from Global Water,

[2:37:19] Please come up and if you wrote one of those 14 hundred emails, please come up and join us, so come along.

[2:40:04] Thank you for joining us.

[2:45:07] Let's get it done.

[2:46:51] We can go ahead and get started.

[2:46:53] Councilmember Ghetto will be here shortly.

[2:46:55] So I'd like to call Matt to start our presentation on Budgeting.

[2:47:01] Matt really knows how to clear a room.

[2:47:10] Can you guys hear me clearly?

[2:47:11] Yes.

[2:47:12] I'm tall.

[2:47:13] I need to make sure this is actually getting into the microphone.

[2:47:16] Mayor Smith, members of Council.

[2:47:17] Thank you very much.

[2:47:18] I am Deputy City Manager and Chief Financial Officer, Matt Kuzlowski.

[2:47:22] I apologize.

[2:47:23] We have made a tactical error of following up everything that we just done with the

[2:47:28] city budget. So I will do my best to make it as quick as possible. But I know some people

[2:47:34] still like to hear what's going on and we want to show them exactly where it is. You're

[2:47:39] always excited about this.

[2:47:43] So I had so much of my head I was going to say earlier, I knew

[2:47:46] what I was going to say and to be quite frank. I'm a little awestruck for everything that's

[2:47:49] happened tonight. So I will do my best to make sure I cover everything city manager bitter.

[2:47:54] If I miss anything, please feel free to jump in and share.

[2:47:56] You know, as long as you keep it shorter than Councilmember Manfredi's presentation, probably

[2:48:01] be all right.

[2:48:02] My goal is half a manfredi.

[2:48:05] That was good.

[2:48:07] So this will be the cover of our budget book this year.

[2:48:10] Our budget theme was finding our way.

[2:48:13] This was discussed as our futures planning topic.

[2:48:16] We discussed this as a staff and council.

[2:48:19] And we will see in this budget presentation that many of the things that we are prioritizing

[2:48:23] align very strongly with the strategic priorities that Assistant City Manager Jennifer Brown

[2:48:29] shared with everybody earlier.

[2:48:32] So, this chart right here is a chart of what our budget process looks like.

[2:48:36] The reality of a budget process is in government, this is a year-round process.

[2:48:41] We are constantly assessing, constantly reprioritizing, constantly working to build the

[2:48:47] most efficient and effective budget that we possibly can.

[2:48:50] This is a public process at the end of the day, much of this has been public, the entire time, there are multiple committee meetings with our budget and finance committee, things are discussed during our futures planning and here we are again tonight making sure that our public is aware of what is contained within our budget and we want that public process to be known and shared with our citizens.

[2:49:10] So what comes next, okay, tonight we are here doing the budget presentation and pending your approval that will be a approval of the tentative budget, okay?

[2:49:21] By May 13th we will have the budget forms for the tentative budget posted to the city website.

[2:49:28] At the council meeting on June 3rd, council will have the ability to approve final budget adoption, and then by June 10th we will have the final budget forms posted to the city website.

[2:49:37] Not long after that, our goal will be to have all of the capital improvement projects and our budget book as well.

[2:49:44] Posted to the city website pending some things we are waiting on from our vendor that has introduced that software and that capability to us.

[2:49:54] This was shared at the April 23rd Budget and Finance Committee meeting.

[2:49:58] These are the key strategic.

[2:50:02] We will talk about the fact that we have a city revenue plateau and the impact of legislative reductions to state shared revenues and how those are contributing.

[2:50:10] We will talk about the value of our large CIP investments and a new fiscal reality for the city moving forward.

[2:50:16] We will talk about our continued reductions in property taxes. We will talk about the large operating investments that we are making in services that our citizens desire.

[2:50:24] We will talk about the public transparency that, quite frankly, we have had ad nauseam tonight

[2:50:29] when it comes to the commuting corridor sales tax initiative and we will talk about the fact

[2:50:32] that 60 percent of our capital expenditures in the next fiscal year are dedicated to transportation.

[2:50:40] This comment from City Manager Bitter's letter in the budget book.

[2:50:46] I will not sit here and read the entire thing at this point.

[2:50:49] I think we can all do that ourselves but it comes back to finding our way

[2:50:54] and finding the opportunities we need to move forward.

[2:51:01] Real quick, we'll talk about big picture financial stability in the city,

[2:51:07] back in August, which feels like years ago at this point.

[2:51:10] The city did receive an upgrade from fish ratings to our IDR,

[2:51:15] which is a very important rating mechanism for if we want to do a bond.

[2:51:20] So our GO bonds related to Copper Sky, we're also affirmed as a triple A rating.

[2:51:26] So, Maricopa Resons can understand that they live in a triple A rated city.

[2:51:32] So really quick, we've talked about the fiscal responsibility that comes along with running

[2:51:37] the city of Maricopa.

[2:51:39] There was an interesting article in Asi Central recently that talked about other cities and

[2:51:45] the debt they are needing to take out to fund operations or projects or whatever that might

[2:51:50] be.

[2:51:50] And if you open up a city's financial statements,

[2:51:54] you will actually find something called a debt per capita number.

[2:51:58] This is how much debt the city has relative

[2:52:01] to each resident that lives in that city, okay?

[2:52:05] What we did was we took each of these cities financial statements

[2:52:09] and then applied the most recent census data

[2:52:12] from the Arizona Office of Economic Opportunity

[2:52:14] to figure out what that rate is per city.

[2:52:16] And we've pulled cities that are very comparable

[2:52:19] to us in various ways, cities that have grown fast or are growing fast and what that number

[2:52:25] is in each one of those cities, right?

[2:52:27] Buckeye, Chandler, Gilbert, and we see, all along the way, all of these cities, thousands

[2:52:33] of dollars per resident in debt.

[2:52:35] We get to Queen Creek, $7,656 per resident.

[2:52:42] The community were probably most compared to because they are the second fastest growing

[2:52:47] of the American, we are the fifth fastest.

[2:52:49] So then you take a look at where Maricopa is at

[2:52:52] and the fiscal responsibility that we have showed as a council.

[2:52:56] And we are at $950 per resident.

[2:52:59] So we are growing at the same rates or better rates

[2:53:03] of these towns at a fraction of the debt.

[2:53:09] So now let's talk about what that means for our actual city budget

[2:53:14] and how we are going to manage the next fiscal year.

[2:53:17] We're going to start with our general fund revenues.

[2:53:18] We're going to talk a lot about general fund here for the next few minutes.

[2:53:22] I mentioned earlier that we have a revenue plateau.

[2:53:25] The three numbers in front of you are the last fiscal years, actual numbers from our financial

[2:53:31] statements.

[2:53:32] The projected numbers for the end of this fiscal year ending June 30th in a couple of months,

[2:53:37] and then what we are projecting for the 2026 budget that you are considering for approval

[2:53:42] tonight.

[2:53:42] Those three numbers in terms of general front revenues are 105 million 102 million and 108 million for lack of a better term, that's flat, right?

[2:53:52] That is a revenue plateau and it is very different from what we are used to experiencing as a community where we had seen 10, 20, 30% growth rates in those revenues in past years.

[2:54:03] That means we have a new reality when it comes to managing our finances and what we're going to be able to invest in.

[2:54:10] Okay, I'm going to show now how those revenues come in from the various revenue sources that we have.

[2:54:17] There are four main revenue sources that contribute to those general fund revenues.

[2:54:21] The first one is intergovernmental or state shared revenues.

[2:54:24] In 2024, that was 32.3 million.

[2:54:28] Where we're going to end this year is about 2 million less than that, and we are projecting that

[2:54:33] we will stay flat next year.

[2:54:35] So, intergovernmental revenues, which was one of our strongest revenue growth rates, is now

[2:54:41] flat or down for three straight years.

[2:54:44] When it comes to local sales taxes, this is indicative of the growth we're experiencing

[2:54:48] in our local economy.

[2:54:50] More residents move in, more spending is taking place locally, our local sales taxes are indicative

[2:54:54] of a growing community.

[2:54:54] The fifth-fastest growing in the nation is spending money in its town.

[2:54:59] when it comes to you.

[2:55:00] Two other licenses, fees, permits of this nature. That is at the end of the day a relatively flat two. We did experience a spike in 2024. That was a one-time spike based upon some incredible growth rate, particularly in the commercial sector with things like Home Depot.

[2:55:14] But the 16 million or so deaths in front of you for the rest of the numbers is a pretty static number, and that's what we're projecting to happen again.

[2:55:21] And then our property taxes, if we talked about being responsible property taxes, that number is relatively flat over three years as well.

[2:55:28] And the increase is that you're seeing there are actually mostly related to new construction.

[2:55:33] And we'll talk about that in a few minutes.

[2:55:35] But as we can see, flat, flat, flat, flat, pretty much everywhere.

[2:55:41] So why are some of these things flat?

[2:55:43] Stage shared revenues.

[2:55:44] Here is a five-year trend of what has been happening in stage shared revenues.

[2:55:48] I talked about how fast these were growing in the past.

[2:55:50] We went from 20 to 25 to 32 down to 30 and then down to 30.

[2:55:57] Those two numbers and red on the far right columns are revenues that if those changes have not been enacted by the state legislature,

[2:56:06] those funds would have been paid to the city of Maricopa.

[2:56:10] $3 million projected by the end of this fiscal year and almost $6 million next fiscal year.

[2:56:16] What are those things that changed?

[2:56:17] it was a couple of things, mainly the reduction to the two and a half percent flat rate for

[2:56:22] the income tax, but it also has to do with the fact that there were reductions in rental

[2:56:28] revenues, right, apartments, right. Something that would have been a very high growth rate

[2:56:33] opportunity for us is now gone because the legislature decided not to tax that anymore.

[2:56:41] Okay. Let's look at this a different way for a second. Here are those same revenues laid

[2:56:44] three years worth. And what I want to highlight here, very simply, is in the local sales tax

[2:56:52] column, you focus on the 24 actuals of 35 million, the projected of 38 million for this

[2:56:59] fiscal year 25. And then in 2026, the growth of 43.75 million, there's the half-cent increase

[2:57:05] that was just approved by council and the impact it will have. Beginning October 1st, we

[2:57:10] elections, it will be about $5 million in collections for the fiscal year.

[2:57:15] The two different color shades you see, reference something that was talked about earlier.

[2:57:19] 40% of this is actually coming from construction sales tax and not AmeriCorps residents.

[2:57:25] So we've highlighted those two differences, but we can see that even our local sales

[2:57:29] tax, if the half-set, we're not occurring, is actually relatively flat.

[2:57:34] Why is this all important?

[2:57:36] Well, we know that this is how capital improvement projects get funded at the end of the

[2:57:40] are the revenues that are coming in from these various sources.

[2:57:43] We're going to talk about that in a minute.

[2:57:45] First, let's talk about property tax.

[2:57:48] Now, so, remember, in Freddie reference this earlier,

[2:57:51] our primary property tax in FY26 is going to be decreasing

[2:57:54] by 17 basis points from 3.64 percent to 3.47 percent.

[2:58:00] Total dollars, it will go from 17 million

[2:58:02] and primary property tax levity to 17.7 million.

[2:58:06] But all of that growth is coming from new construction.

[2:58:08] If we look at this blue column here in the middle, you'll see that the values go up by both

[2:58:12] new construction and the increase in a homeowner's assessed value city council is decided

[2:58:18] to give all of that assessed value back to his residents and only new construction will contribute

[2:58:23] to the increase in primary property tax collections.

[2:58:27] Secondary property tax is tied to the general obligation bonds for copper sky that is reducing

[2:58:31] an additional 10 basis points as well.

[2:58:33] About a year and a half ago we did a refinancing that saved the city tax payers about 1.3

[2:58:38] million dollars, and this is where those savings are reflected in the secondary property tax

[2:58:42] reductions.

[2:58:44] Okay, Mayor Smith, I know you're always a fan of this chart.

[2:58:47] We actually shared this as a part of the process with the half-cent open houses.

[2:58:53] We are very proud of the fact that over these last six years, anywhere from five to seven

[2:58:57] percent reductions every single year, in a five-year period, that is a 25 percent reduction.

[2:59:03] I'm pretty impressive and I think it was council member and Freddie who has said show me

[2:59:08] another community in the same five years who's done that.

[2:59:13] Seven years of savings from Maricopa residents let's just say in 2020 that your property

[2:59:19] had an assessed value of $360,000 in this theoretical situation your primary property tax

[2:59:26] bill would have resulted in $2,150 of primary property tax.

[2:59:31] Okay? What has that seven years of reductions meant to a maricopa-resort?

[2:59:38] That same assessed

[2:59:39] value would now be $1466. A reduction of $700 for a homeowner who was assessed a $360

[2:59:48] dollar valuation. That is a significant change. And we talked about the total tax burden

[2:59:54] for Maricopa residents.

[2:59:56] Those property tax savings mathematically.

[3:00:00] Depending on situation, should outweigh any increases that are being experienced by the half-cent for America

[3:00:07] President, because they're not paying for the food. They're not paying for the gas. There's no tax there.

[3:00:13] So, the overall burden is being reduced. So, our council was committed to making sure that an overall tax burden is reducing for

[3:00:20] resident and mathematically speaking, it is, here's a representation of that. Okay, so this

[3:00:28] slide, I'll try to move a quick, but we wanted a visual representation of what this

[3:00:33] experience has been since 2021, okay. So let's talk about our general fund revenues over

[3:00:38] that timeframe. We have gone from 65 million and 2021 to a 25 projected number of 102 million.

[3:00:46] And that's a pretty impressive growth rate, okay.

[3:00:48] During that same timeframe, here is what those general fund expenditures looked like.

[3:00:53] 46 million to where we're going to end about 63 million projected for fiscal year 25.

[3:01:01] That is maybe even a little bit aggressive or in this term conservative, making sure that we

[3:01:05] collect, I'm sorry, we account for every possible expenditure that could take place within this

[3:01:09] fiscal year.

[3:01:10] But in the same timeframe that revenues have gone up almost $40 million, expenditures have

[3:01:15] up only $17 million. That's a pretty impressive rate. Okay. Now, what happens when you have revenues

[3:01:22] over expenditures in the general fund? We always like the point out that those revenues go

[3:01:28] to pay for capital improvements. This blue line and these blue numbers are how much was spent

[3:01:34] on capital improvement assets or projects in that exact same time frame. Okay. We have projected

[3:01:40] that at the end of 2025 we'll have spent $66 million this fiscal year on capital projects.

[3:01:45] Last year we spent $88.7 million, quite literally in the past two years alone, $150 plus

[3:01:52] million on capital projects and assets for the city of Maricopa. It's pretty impressive, right?

[3:01:58] Now where are we going in 2026? Let's talk about that. $108 million in revenue, which we talked

[3:02:04] about earlier, budgeted expenditures of 81.87 million.

[3:02:08] What I want to point out real quick is that 81.87 million

[3:02:12] that looks like a pretty significant leap from 63.5 million.

[3:02:16] But we, as a state, have a law that says that once you

[3:02:20] approve, tended to budget tonight, we can expend no more

[3:02:23] than what you approve.

[3:02:25] So we have to be prepared for every expenditures scenario

[3:02:29] and budget that whether it's going to happen or not.

[3:02:31] It is a conservative methodology and we are making sure

[3:02:33] we are prepared for any possibility to represent that real quick.

[3:02:38] In these same fiscal years above, I'm sorry, before.

[3:02:42] You can actually see how much we budgeted versus how much

[3:02:46] we actually spent, right?

[3:02:50] Consistently somewhere between five to $15 million

[3:02:53] below what we actually budgeted.

[3:02:56] So that 81.87 is not going to be 81.87

[3:02:59] at the end of the day, it's far more likely to be something 70 to 75 million dollars at the end of the day.

[3:03:05] But we are prepared for all possibilities. For FY26, we have $197.8 million dollars up in that far-right corner budgeted for capital improvement projects.

[3:03:16] We're going to talk about some of those relatively soon.

[3:03:19] Okay. As I mentioned before, budget versus actuals and what we spend on, those revenue over expenditure dollars go towards capital projects.

[3:03:28] This is just a visual representation of that from our financial statements.

[3:03:33] I bring this chart back now without all of the fancy clicking so we can move on and start talking about what that 81.87 million dollars is covering from an operating expenditure perspective.

[3:03:44] So let's talk about those.

[3:03:46] Here are our budget operating expenditures by department.

[3:03:49] We won't go through all of these. There's a lot of numbers.

[3:03:51] probably available for everybody to see, we do want to point out in highlight that 45% of that

[3:03:56] operating expenditure budget goes towards public safety.

[3:04:00] Assistant City Manager Brown talked about that as one of our strategic priorities and 45%

[3:04:04] of our expenditures go towards that.

[3:04:07] In total, 71% of our operating expenditures are spent on personnel.

[3:04:12] That sounds like a lot, but I've pointed out before in these meetings, that's actually pretty

[3:04:16] impressive.

[3:04:16] we have studied other city budgets and found that their general fund, 80, 85, 90% of their general

[3:04:24] fund is spent on personnel. So we are making sure that we have enough funds left over to

[3:04:29] get to the operating expenditures. We have to basically run a little leaner and a little

[3:04:33] meaner because we got to get things done and we don't have the funding sources that other

[3:04:39] cities do. And as we saw earlier, we don't take out the debt that other cities do to get

[3:04:43] those things done.

[3:04:47] Now, let's talk about the new operator request real quick.

[3:04:50] From a personnel perspective,

[3:04:52] you're looking at three different numbers on this chart.

[3:04:55] The $51.1 million what we'll call recurring personnel costs,

[3:04:59] really what we have.

[3:05:00] At current date, with, again, some of those operating expenditure capacities built in, just in case.

[3:05:07] We have 4.5 million in compensation adjustments coming to this budget in the form of multiple things,

[3:05:13] including MOU agreements with our police and fire unions. And then we also have a class in comp study that is being performed.

[3:05:19] We have budgeted for every possible capability there. It is incredibly likely that not all of those will be spent.

[3:05:26] But, again, given state law, we have to make sure we are prepared for everything.

[3:05:29] and that has included in the screen number.

[3:05:31] We also have $2.8 million in new personnel requests.

[3:05:34] We'll talk about those soon.

[3:05:35] From an operating perspective, current recurring 21.61,

[3:05:39] and we have 1.85 million in new operating requests.

[3:05:42] We'll talk about some of those in a little bit too.

[3:05:44] All in all, it increase in 12.6% to our operating expenditure budget.

[3:05:49] So this is again a new reality for us.

[3:05:53] We have talked about revenue growth,

[3:05:55] outpacing expenditure growth in past years.

[3:05:57] Our revenue growth is about five or six percent, and our operating expenditure increases are 12.6 percent

[3:06:03] budgeted versus actual. We've talked about so that may not all be spent, but it's a different story that we've talked about in the past.

[3:06:11] Okay, so what are some of those expenditures and the increases to the budget that we are expanding? First of all,

[3:06:18] investments in public safety, right? New MOU agreements with our unions. First of all, strong market-based increases for those

[3:06:26] fire fighters for those police officers making sure that they have competitive wages.

[3:06:31] One of the things that both unions made incredibly apparent to us during the process and we

[3:06:35] listened and we came to understand was that recruiting is very important to them.

[3:06:38] The ability to find and locate and hire the best talent in order to do so.

[3:06:43] We have to make sure that we have an incredibly competitive wage at the entry level.

[3:06:47] So as a part of this process, we all agree to that and we are making sure that they will

[3:06:51] have access to hiring the best people to attract them in the city of Maricopa.

[3:06:55] Well, but there are a few other things that we did as well.

[3:06:57] Some of them were covered earlier by Captain Eads, for instance, increased funding for cancer

[3:07:03] screening for firefighter, something that every single one of us believed in very strongly

[3:07:07] and couldn't agree with more.

[3:07:09] The Hazmet pay on the far right there.

[3:07:12] The introduction of ambulance services, the introduction of business parks, we have to be ready

[3:07:18] to be able to handle hazardous material situations that is an increase in budget at the end

[3:07:22] of the day.

[3:07:22] But these are this and requests that we have for services that they wish to see, so we're operating budget reflects

[3:07:29] expenditures that they want us to commit to.

[3:07:32] And then specialty pay as well for officers.

[3:07:35] There are different things that different officers do that we have to make sure that we are paying appropriately for.

[3:07:39] And we agreed to make sure that they're well taken care of as well.

[3:07:43] Also with public safety, we had a number of operating increases for things that are required for them.

[3:07:48] If we're going to commit two ambulance services, well, we have to make sure we're sending folks the paramedics school.

[3:07:54] We have to make sure that we have increased police training budgets to make sure that our police officers are up to speed on what they need to be able to do.

[3:08:00] We have a body camera action assistant we have to pay for.

[3:08:03] We have fire hose replacements and fire hose it's 10 years.

[3:08:06] We have to be able to go ahead and replace that.

[3:08:08] Somewhere hoses are doing that, so we have an operating commitment to that.

[3:08:12] Video, long word, I can't pronounce this late at night.

[3:08:15] It's also very important, though.

[3:08:19] The range of scope.

[3:08:21] Who did it?

[3:08:21] Who's that?

[3:08:23] Thank you.

[3:08:26] But there are open air requests that are happening outside of public safety as well.

[3:08:30] As a part of future planning, we committed to bring back stage coach days.

[3:08:35] This will be something that is taking place every October, right around our incorporation date to celebrate Maricopa.

[3:08:43] We're all very excited about this and this is a part of the operating increase as well.

[3:08:48] We also have a city website update that is a part of the budget increase.

[3:08:51] We need to make our site more mobile-friendly, more user-friendly.

[3:08:56] So this will be a budget initiative in the next fiscal year.

[3:08:59] And then city committees, we do have some funding available for initiatives that are being generated from our city communities with our council members.

[3:09:09] Okay. Last but not least, people investments.

[3:09:11] Okay? We make sure that the head count that we commit to is in line and congruent with our city mission and our city objectives.

[3:09:20] Right? 23 new full-time hires authorized in the next fiscal year. 20 of them dedicated to public safety.

[3:09:27] 87% of our new hires dedicated to public safety. This is the large operating investments that we talked about.

[3:09:34] 12 of these are firefighter recruits.

[3:09:37] The ability to begin preparing an advance for the ambulance services that we're going to be offering our residents.

[3:09:43] We need to hire them in phases over the next few fiscal years to get them trained up, get them ready,

[3:09:49] and be prepared for one that ambulance service goes active.

[3:09:52] This is the first phase in doing so.

[3:09:55] As always, we retain the budget flexibility to make sure that we can add positions earlier.

[3:10:00] There are four new police officers that are being added. The great news with our budget methodology and having those funds available and being a little conservative, projecting a little more.

[3:10:10] It actually gives city manager better the opportunity to approve a position ahead of time if he thinks operationally it makes sense.

[3:10:16] So, of those four police officers, three have already been approved. So, police chief Goodman, co-out and get those people much earlier and get them on the street and not have to wait for July 1st in the new budget to allow him to do so.

[3:10:27] that budget flexibilities important to us and it's just another way that we're making sure that we act different and we act bold in the city of Maricopa.

[3:10:35] Okay, here's a nice little chart where our head count exists when it's committed to 50% of our head count as a city is dedicated to public safety.

[3:10:45] Everybody else can see the other departments pretty well spread out but it is a good representation.

[3:10:49] the fact that we are committed to making sure public safety is vital and funded in the city of

[3:10:55] America. Okay. We don't have to belabor this too much at this point. We've talked about it

[3:11:00] a lot tonight, but one thing we are doing as a city is we are being incredibly transparent

[3:11:05] about our community corridor sales tax fund that was just approved. Here in this budget sheet

[3:11:10] you cannot possibly see it more clearly than this. There it is, the sales tax fund out on its own,

[3:11:16] There are the revenues, there are the expenditures taking place, completely transparent for the public to see and something that we will maintain and update on a regular basis so people know exactly how those funds are being managed.

[3:11:29] We've already shown this slide. I bring it back just for reference again because what we're going to do now is we're going to talk about that blue box on the far right. We're going to talk about our capital improvement plan and what's happening there.

[3:11:40] Okay, CIP, we a few years ago shifted from a five year to a ten year plan.

[3:11:46] Just a quick reminder, what a ten year plan looks like and why it is laid out that way.

[3:11:51] Funds in years one through three are the projects that are the highest priority.

[3:11:56] Just because we have $197 million CIP budget this year, we cannot spend $197 million on all those capital projects.

[3:12:04] But that means that those projects are placed in the highest priority level and we're looking for all the funding sources possible

[3:12:09] to make sure that we can accomplish those projects.

[3:12:12] Years four through six, higher priority, but less priority than years one through three, and

[3:12:17] years seven through ten are really long-term, long-range planning.

[3:12:20] We know we need to get two things that are still important, but things that just have a little

[3:12:24] bit less priority than the items and years one through three are years four through six.

[3:12:29] Our ten-year capital plan, there's an image of all the roadway projects that are going to

[3:12:32] take place in the next ten years.

[3:12:34] The reason I love this image, there is an announcement, an inch of the city that is not

[3:12:38] being hit in those transportation project plans, right?

[3:12:42] Our 10 year CIP, $886 million, okay?

[3:12:46] In 2526, 71% of those projects will go towards

[3:12:51] streets infrastructure and economic development

[3:12:53] or job creation.

[3:12:55] Earlier, when we went through those strategic priorities,

[3:12:57] priorities one and two were streets, transportation,

[3:13:01] and job creation.

[3:13:02] I think 71% of $197 million capital plan

[3:13:07] shows that we're putting our money where it mouth is when it comes to prioritization.

[3:13:11] Where is that money spent?

[3:13:12] Here's that slide and break down for your right there.

[3:13:15] 197.8 million with 60% of that going towards streets infrastructure, 11% towards economic

[3:13:20] development job creation, 11% towards new building construction, the vast majority of that,

[3:13:25] is a project we'll talk about a little bit, which is the AmeriCorps Field House and then

[3:13:29] a few other dollars elsewhere.

[3:13:31] That public safety number is low for the first time in a few years.

[3:13:34] Why?

[3:13:34] We've finished a pretty nice new police station right across the street so a little lower than we've seen in past but still public safety

[3:13:42] We've shown we're well committed to

[3:13:44] Okay, let's talk about some of these projects real quick. All right

[3:13:48] It's an amazing everything we've talked about tonight. Everything we've been doing recently

[3:13:52] We don't want to forget about the fact that business triangle or that business park is still a vital component of our strategy as a city

[3:14:00] A part of the budget this year is for a final land payment tied to that business triangle or that business park.

[3:14:06] We also have other funds committed with the master plan for designing that business park.

[3:14:12] We are actively working on that project.

[3:14:15] I don't want that to get lost and everything else we've done because it is still an incredibly important part of what we are trying to accomplish as a city.

[3:14:23] Now, finding our way to connection, right?

[3:14:26] The pedestrian overpass at UPRR and Maricopa Road, all right?

[3:14:30] This one has been talked about for a while.

[3:14:32] Let me go get a couple of my facts here,

[3:14:33] real quick, so I can keep you guys updated.

[3:14:35] But we do have funds available in the budget for this next year,

[3:14:39] okay?

[3:14:39] Where is this project at?

[3:14:41] Well, it is slated to start this month.

[3:14:46] In this little component to the project,

[3:14:48] I've slated to begin this month, right?

[3:14:51] completion sometime next year. So this is no longer some dream, this is no longer some

[3:14:56] project, which is just being talked about, it is ready to go, right?

[3:15:00] And why is this important? It's not just an overpass. This is a vital component of economic development. This is a vital component of connection of public safety. So kids don't have to cross the railroad tracks. It's also a vital component of our trail's plan, right? We have multiple components of our trail's plan in the CIP plan, as well this year, in addition to this project. So I want to make sure we understand that, even though I'm not highlighting trail tonight, our trail's plan is something that is still vital and important and being worked on, and this bridge is a part of it.

[3:15:30] Okay, critical services, we are filing our way to enhancing critical services.

[3:15:36] Here's the investment in those ambulances, as we've talked about, right?

[3:15:41] Items like this have incredibly long lead times.

[3:15:44] We have a multi-year effort to plan for these kind of things.

[3:15:47] So the budget is making sure that we are committing the initial process to getting those things

[3:15:51] ordered, planned, and built.

[3:15:56] Okay, finding our way to enhancing critical services with a future fire station.

[3:15:59] Okay, we've talked about needing the hazardous materials work, we've talked about the paramedics.

[3:16:04] Well, they're going to need somewhere to be and this future fire station will be located somewhere near the business triangle or the business park, and we'll have hazardous materials capabilities.

[3:16:16] So if we're going to make these investments operationally, we need to make the capital investment necessary to make sure that they actually come to life.

[3:16:23] So we want to make sure we highlight that this is a very important project for the city at this time as well.

[3:16:28] Okay. Let's find our way to some fun. This has always been one of my favorites. The Maricopa field house. Okay. Let's talk about timelines on this real quick.

[3:16:37] Early procurement processes are already underway. Planned estimated start for this project. Next month June 25. Right.

[3:16:45] Estimated completion. Sometimes summer fall of 2026, which is pretty exciting. Right. New court space, new opportunities.

[3:16:53] I am incredibly excited about this project, I know everybody is.

[3:16:57] It's a very important one for our community to take the next step forward

[3:17:01] and what we can accomplish recreationally, right?

[3:17:04] But that's not it when it comes to recreation.

[3:17:06] We've highlighted this project before.

[3:17:07] I want to highlight a couple of smaller quality of life upgrades, right?

[3:17:11] We always talk about these very large projects.

[3:17:13] We're looking to accomplish, but there are some smaller ones

[3:17:15] that we understand to bring quality of life on grades two.

[3:17:18] I'll pick a ball court expansion, a copper sky.

[3:17:20] We are working on that design process right now.

[3:17:23] Shave structures at Pekana and Lakeview Park, right?

[3:17:26] It sounds simple, but a lot of parents have been out of those parts.

[3:17:31] And they don't have the shade protection that we have a copper sky.

[3:17:34] It's time to make sure that those other parks have it as well.

[3:17:39] Finding a way to better roads.

[3:17:40] The 347 is dominated the conversation tonight,

[3:17:43] but that's not all that's happening.

[3:17:44] About the SR-238 widening process.

[3:17:46] We're going to widen this from the 347 to the city

[3:17:50] limits two miles west, okay?

[3:17:52] Where is this project at at this point?

[3:17:55] Right now, design plans are at 90%.

[3:17:57] Okay, we anticipate being at 100% design later this year

[3:18:02] and that construction will start in spring of 2026

[3:18:05] and we'll take about 1.5 years after that to complete.

[3:18:08] So we're talking about beginnings,

[3:18:10] spring of 26 completion sometime in 2027.

[3:18:14] This is an incredibly large project

[3:18:15] coming in at right now in the budget,

[3:18:18] of $31.5 million dollars, right?

[3:18:20] Some of this has been funded via grants.

[3:18:23] Eight authors, a number of funding sources for this

[3:18:25] that we have, the great news is our city website

[3:18:28] will contain all of those details for our residents

[3:18:30] to be able to see everything they want to see

[3:18:31] and understand about these projects.

[3:18:36] A new initiative we've had and city manager bidders

[3:18:38] mentioned this in prior meetings recently,

[3:18:41] our traffic strike force team, right?

[3:18:44] We have $2 million set aside for what we are calling

[3:18:47] traffic strike force, the ability to react quickly, to new information where you're

[3:18:52] seen about transportation and traffic needs in our community.

[3:18:55] The truth is, some of these dollars have actually already been spoken for.

[3:18:58] These funds will be used to fund a new stop light at Smith-Think and Desert Greens.

[3:19:05] What happens and why we need to be ready for things like this?

[3:19:07] When you do a traffic or transportation study and the data shows you that something needs

[3:19:11] to change, you got to be able to react to it soon.

[3:19:14] This gives us the budget capacity to react to it as soon as we have that information and

[3:19:17] have to wait another year to come back to you guys and have that project approved.

[3:19:21] So again, bold, courageous and ready to act now.

[3:19:26] Last but not least, here's the CIP item for everything we've talked about tonight.

[3:19:30] The 347 widening, the local contribution to get this project done.

[3:19:34] We have the full budget capacity to act on this.

[3:19:37] In any way we need to, any mixture that it is done and any timing that is necessary,

[3:19:41] we will be able to accomplish it.

[3:19:43] And as again, we have promised to our residents, it is fully transparent,

[3:19:47] to fully trackable and fully easy to understand and if they have any questions, council members

[3:19:51] and city staff will always be happy to answer anything they have.

[3:19:55] So I wrap up the presentation by saying if we want to stay informed, we ask you to.

[3:20:00] We hope you do. Please visit the city website. Go to departments, click on budget, and right there

[3:20:05] on the right. There is every link you can possibly imagine to prior budget books. There will

[3:20:10] be links to our capital improvement plan. People will be able to see anything they want, and

[3:20:15] we want them to see that. We want that transparency. We invite it. So I share this with the

[3:20:20] republic, so they understand exactly where they need to go and exactly how they can access this

[3:20:24] information.

[3:20:26] Budget processes are long, they are arduous, I simply sit here and I thank City Council for

[3:20:32] everything that you do, all the efforts you put into this.

[3:20:36] I am the one who stands up here and says this, but I am simply representing an entire staff

[3:20:40] of people who will accomplish something amazing.

[3:20:43] Our department directors, our executive team, our city staff who put in countless hours to

[3:20:48] make sure that this budget is covering everything that our priorities ask, and everything that

[3:20:52] we know our residents require.

[3:20:55] So I can't thank everybody at the day.

[3:20:57] I do want to take a minute to recognize the budget team.

[3:21:00] They are sitting behind me at the table.

[3:21:02] They are the ones who make us look good about this at the end of the day.

[3:21:05] It's not me.

[3:21:06] I'm just talking.

[3:21:07] They're the ones who get things done.

[3:21:09] Guys, I know you don't want the attention, but please stand real quick.

[3:21:12] So you can receive the attention that is so well deserved.

[3:21:25] Thank you.

[3:21:26] They deserve that recognition more than I can possibly

[3:21:28] verbalize at this point.

[3:21:29] But I'm going to do what everybody wants us to do, and I'm going to finish and get us out of here.

[3:21:35] After I answer any questions that you may have.

[3:21:37] Very good.

[3:21:38] What questions do you have?

[3:21:40] Yes.

[3:21:40] Councilman.

[3:21:41] My great job.

[3:21:42] Thank you so much.

[3:21:43] I got a couple of things I want to ask.

[3:21:46] Can you do a quarter-man for any?

[3:21:48] Can you go back to pages on two slides?

[3:21:51] The $50 million is just explained the $50 million quickly for me.

[3:21:59] It's not $50 million from the city of Maricopa, but it is $50 million from the 50

[3:22:06] Maricopa, because it's taken into account why.

[3:22:10] So there's a couple of things to this.

[3:22:11] Number one, we don't get understand how Penal County's contribution is going to come into

[3:22:16] this.

[3:22:17] Will they send those funds directly to aid out?

[3:22:19] Will they send those funds through us and then we are the conduits to do that?

[3:22:23] You have to have at the end of the day what we call budget capacity to send those funds,

[3:22:28] So we have to have that full 50 million in the budget in case Penal County decides to flow those funds through us and then we need to remit them to a dot and they may do so in a number of

[3:22:38] Factors and a number of fashions that we just need to be prepared for how we do it again if city manager better is talked about that payment going by June of

[3:22:45] 2026

[3:22:46] It will likely be through a funding source called a revenue bond. We are able to bond against the funding source of the sales tax the half-sense sales tax

[3:22:55] and then take those funds and pay that bond down.

[3:22:59] We won't have $50 million or $30 million

[3:23:01] or whatever it is in the bank.

[3:23:03] By that June 1st, 2026 date, we'll have,

[3:23:06] as we showed earlier, about $5 million.

[3:23:09] So we need to have whatever mechanisms are necessary.

[3:23:11] Remember, it would be that $50 million

[3:23:13] allows for capacity to be at a revenue bond,

[3:23:16] a grant that can be obtained, a payment from Penalty County,

[3:23:18] whatever it is, we're ready to execute,

[3:23:20] and then we figure those things out as we're going along.

[3:23:22] Thank you and the reason I asked that is because there is confusion in some minds when you see it

[3:23:28] Yes, I sat through an A dot work session and they work in sort of confused on was it 50 is it 70?

[3:23:36] Right if you take 50 from us and 20 from the county

[3:23:39] But we're talking about a 50 million dollar local contribution that includes a city of Maricopa and the county

[3:23:45] Yes, and that just allows us to

[3:23:48] basically pay up front for the county in case they have to pass that.

[3:23:53] Correct. Thank you.

[3:23:54] Thank you, Council Member Manfredi. Any additional comments, questions?

[3:23:59] Council Member Mark.

[3:24:01] Thank you for the presentation. That's great detail.

[3:24:05] I'm just wondering about grant money to help us fund the 347 projects.

[3:24:12] Is there any organization working on that anywhere in the hierarchy above us or at our staff?

[3:24:24] A lot of times with grants of this nature, E.W. will actually work.

[3:24:29] They have a staff of grant writers who will look for those grant funding opportunities.

[3:24:33] They'll usually look towards federal resources at that point.

[3:24:36] doesn't mean or limit that we can't do something of that nature as well but they have

[3:24:42] far greater grant writing resources and far greater relationships at the federal level and these things

[3:24:46] and we do. It doesn't mean that we can't, doesn't mean that we won't. A part of this process

[3:24:51] once this gets on the five-year plan is working with data to figure out exactly how we're going to pursue

[3:24:56] those opportunities. So that's again why we want the capacity to do so.

[3:25:00] And then the work follows after and how we're going to get that and who's going to obtain it.

[3:25:03] I'm just looking back at how we did the railroad overpass.

[3:25:08] The tiger.

[3:25:09] Yes.

[3:25:10] So, tiger grants, and I won't go into too much detail, they get renamed every time somebody

[3:25:15] knew steps into office and their raised grants or tiger grants and build grants, whatever they're called.

[3:25:21] They're issued in limited quantities.

[3:25:24] And if you look at the entire Western United States over the past 15 years, a number of grants that were

[3:25:29] actually issued under that program was relatively small.

[3:25:33] So I think it's fair to say we should pursue those things.

[3:25:36] But if we've already received one of these grants for this road already,

[3:25:41] our ability is a local entity to obtain that relative to what EDA could do to obtain it.

[3:25:47] Their power, their ability to do so is probably greater than ours at this point.

[3:25:52] Thank you.

[3:25:53] Thank you, Councillor.

[3:25:54] are there any additional comments questions?

[3:25:57] I just have one.

[3:25:58] Would you please go back to slide 16?

[3:26:02] I should say I have two.

[3:26:05] I'll be there in about five minutes.

[3:26:08] Okay, this chart, I think, is really important for our community to understand.

[3:26:13] You guys did a great job putting it together.

[3:26:16] And the reason I say it's important for the community to understand is because you would

[3:26:21] shocked how many times I hear our residents and groups within the city of Maricopa say

[3:26:28] the city is rich and so if you were just to look at our revenues and say oh your operating

[3:26:36] expense is like in 2025 63.5 you might go wow they are rich they could do anything they want

[3:26:45] but what they're not understanding if you take that and if I get this wrong that let me know

[3:26:51] If you take that 63.5 in 2025 and you add the 66.01, which is capital, it is more than the revenues for that year.

[3:27:02] We are not rich. The reason we can do that is we have been fiscally responsible for all years of the existence of the city of Maricopa.

[3:27:13] otherwise we wouldn't be able to do that. That's very important and so if in this example

[3:27:19] you said in 2026, 81 million might become 70 million, that's perfect because that means that's

[3:27:28] what we can put into the CIP budget for and this is what I try to share with people. They want more

[3:27:35] signals, more roads, more sports fields, a senior center, a teen center. I mean the list goes on and on

[3:27:42] and not everything is in this capital improvement plan yet, but a lot of things are and what

[3:27:49] people need to understand is we can only move at the pace that our revenues allows us to move.

[3:27:57] Plain and simple and just to finish that thought our revenues and I think someone mentioned it here

[3:28:04] Tonight, our typically 40 to 60% less than cities our size in the state of Arizona.

[3:28:12] That's important.

[3:28:14] And why is that?

[3:28:15] Because we're 21 years old because we have limited commercial retail and all the things

[3:28:20] that contribute to our revenues.

[3:28:23] And so people need to understand that.

[3:28:25] I try hard to help them, but this is a great chart.

[3:28:28] I might have to start using this chart.

[3:28:30] I become my most favorite chart at this point.

[3:28:32] What do you feel free? That's why we do this. That's right. I love it.

[3:28:37] If you would go to slide 34.

[3:28:45] It went really fast. Okay, so question for you. Yes. It says the funding source is capital project fund and carry forward of capital project fund.

[3:28:55] Now we know that we asked our federal government to help us when we went to DC.

[3:29:00] Explain to the public what happens to this number if we are fortunate enough to get a grant from our federal government for those ambulances Absolutely, so to try and be as brief as possible

[3:29:13] We talked about operating capacity and budgeting everything just in case we also have to do that with something we call grant capacity

[3:29:21] We actually put a number of about 60 million dollars of what we call grant capacity into the budget every year

[3:29:27] For what we would say are large opportunities like that to go and obtain funds, but we don't know whether or not we're going to get them.

[3:29:35] If we do receive those, we can actually, we have the budget capacity to bring those in, apply those funds towards this project,

[3:29:43] and then that $2.7 million that is sitting in the $3.50 fund dedicated to these dams is right now,

[3:29:48] can actually be re-aligned, reassessed, to re-appropriated to another project as we see fit.

[3:29:54] So that grant opportunity allows us to take this 2.7 and put it towards something else at the end of the day.

[3:30:00] And because we're planning ahead, we have this grant capacity number, we're ready for that opportunity, but you don't want to actually project it or budget for it, because you don't want to count on something that you know is not going to come, or you don't know is going to come.

[3:30:12] Exactly. That makes care for the possibility.

[3:30:14] And if so, 2.7 million dollars towards something else, something a pretty good idea to me.

[3:30:18] Yeah, that makes sense. I'm just thankful that you were able to explain it to the public, because I get some questions in regards to our federal grants.

[3:30:26] Okay, given that I'm finished with my questions as well.

[3:30:30] I want to thank the staff, really great job on everything tonight, so phenomenal.

[3:30:37] I want to thank police and fire for all the work that you do.

[3:30:41] I just think that the city of Maricopa is special.

[3:30:44] Who said that here tonight?

[3:30:46] Was that everybody?

[3:30:47] Everybody said that.

[3:30:49] The city of Maricopa is special and yeah, I challenge any city to say they've lowered

[3:30:54] the property tax seven years in a row.

[3:30:56] I challenge any city to say they can fund the CIP out of being conservative over two

[3:31:02] decades of fiscal responsibility.

[3:31:05] We're special and you guys do a phenomenal job and I want to thank you.

[3:31:10] I appreciate everything that you do.

[3:31:13] Given that, are there any additional questions comments?

[3:31:17] Do I have a motion to approve?

[3:31:19] Motion to approve by Councilman Manfredi.

[3:31:21] Do I have a second?

[3:31:22] Seconded by Councilmember Mars.

[3:31:24] Any additional comments questions? No, we're all tired. Okay, I'll see you in none. I'll in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposed and that carries as well.

[3:31:36] Thank you very much. Thank you all for being here tonight.

City Council Regular Meeting on 2025-05-06 6:00 PM

Agenda

Transcript