Chandler budget: More unknowns in the cycle

By Jason W. Brooks
Mail | X: @JasonWBrooks2

It’s still unclear if Chandler will be able to do at least most of the things in fiscal 2027 that it has bragged about doing this fiscal year and in the recent past.

After a budget kickoff event, it was clear the city should be able to take most of the positive budget steps forward in fiscal 2027 as it took this year — although the wild card of federal funding streams and program status is as unpredictable as ever.

City Budget Director Matt Dunbar led much of the Chandler City Council’s Oct. 13 budget kickoff work session, starting out by acknowledging what’s essentially a setback.

“We do have some planned increases to our water, wastewater, reclaimed water and solid waste rates, to keep those funds self-supporting,” Dunbar acknowledged early in his presentation.

Dunbar said keeping Chandler sales tax at 1.5% — among the lowest in Arizona — is a benefit to residents. Reducing the primary property tax rate for 10 consecutive years is also a community benefit, Dunbar said.

Inflation is a topic among local governments nationwide, as everything from new vehicles to lumber to cement has spiked consistently over the past five years.

“We increased our capital budget to account for inflation,” Dunbar said, looking at one of at least six uses of the word inflation in his printed presentation.

Dunbar said the early part of the budget process is where feedback is gathered from council on direction and suggestions and ideas are collected from staff and the public for the upcoming year. He and city chief financial officer Dawn Lang fielded questions and concerns from council at the kickoff work session.

Dunbar said city leaders converted some positions from being funded by federal grants or relief funds was “a good move,” as some programs that affect housing, homeless services or otherwise help the lowest-income residents are on the chopping block, in some ways.

Dunbar said the federal shutdown, which was about three weeks old at the time of the Oct. 13 session, has prevented the city from getting the latest information on the status of various federal grants and programs.

Dunbar also bragged on the city’s high bond ratings. It hopes to maintain those ratings as the city is assessed again late this year, prior to selling its final set of 2021 bonds.

The kickoff session also was a chance for council to give direct input on priorities and guiding principles for the upcoming budget. One example is that after Council member O.D. Harris wondered aloud if the first word of budget priority No. 4, which begins with “Build the strength of our workforce ... ,” was the best word to use. That prompted a thorough council re-examination of the entire list of the five budget priorities that were presented.

Mayor Kevin Hartke agreed with Council member Matt Orlando’s caution about going after grants because of convenience, rather than to meet an urgent city need.

“Don’t chase the golden goose to the detriment of others,” Hartke said.

Harris said he’s concerned about city staff layoffs. Acting City Manager Jeff Pombier said that possibility hasn’t been in any administrative budget conversations to that point.

“If a federal program completely goes away in a way that affects any of our budgets or staff, we’ll have some of those tough conversations, but we’ll be monitoring those kinds of things constantly,” Pombier said.

Regarding departmental and larger-view budget sessions that take place in the late spring, leading up to final budget approval, especially council’s daylong, all-departments budget briefing, Orlando said he’d like to hear and see more about capital improvement plans.

The next major step in the city’s annual budget cycle, from a public perspective, is a resident budget survey. Last winter, the budget survey was live on the city’s website from Nov. 27 to Jan. 12.

Jason W. Brooks can be reached at jbrooks@iniusa.org. Please submit comments at yourvalley.net/letters or email them to AzOpinions@iniusa.org. We are committed to publishing a wide variety of reader opinions, as long as those meet our  Civility Guidelines.

Jason W. Brooks
News Editor | Chandler Independent

Jason W. Brooks joined Independent Newsmedia, Inc., USA, in July 2021 as an associate editor. After a year covering Buckeye, he has covered Chandler since the fall of 2022, in addition to assisting the Daily Independent throughout his time at INI.

Education: University of New Mexico, bachelor of arts in journalism and mass communication, print emphasis, English minor.

Random Fact: He and his siblings witnessed a Space Shuttle launch and landing in the same year in person, on opposite coasts.

Hobbies: Karaoke, bicycling and American Sign Language.

Community: He supports animal shelters.