For years in Peoria, the proposed budget and 10-year capital improvement plan — that is, a working budget for future capital projects — has not been a contentious issue.
Generally, councils have voted largely in favor of them, with little division. But this year, the council was split on the plan, largely over funding for a new airport and overwhelmingly on parks.
At the May 3 budget hearing, Mayor Jason Beck, Councilmembers Denette Dunn, Jon Edwards and Jennifer Crawford voted in favor of the plan.
Councilmembers Brad Shaffer, Mike Finn and Bill Patena opposed it.
The three dissenting councilors say they voted against it because hundreds of their constituents don’t support it and because, as Finn said, nearly 40% of the $1.1 billion CIP is budgeted in the first of 10 years.
That is especially troubling, he said, with the state of the economy right now, as Arizona continues to persist with supply chain, labor and inflation issues.
Finn added that more than 70% of the plan is budgeted during the next four years, with little funding for parks and recreation, leaving little in long-term planning.
“If that is the case, that has to be corrected. And I don’t see a plan in here to correct it,” Finn said.
Residents at the meeting spoke on the reoccurring theme of north versus south Peoria, particularly pitting the new Paloma Park against aging parks in the south.
Shafer had concerns about the future of phase 2 of Paloma Park in northern Peoria.
Due to economic factors, voter-approved funds have been reallocated and no money is planned for the long term.
In last year’s capital improvement plan, Shafer said the city allocated $192 million for Parks and Recreation, and the proposed budget allocates only $33 million.
Shafer received about 100 letters opposing the plan. He said this budget does not reflect the priorities of his constituents in the Mesquite District.
“I sent a basic summary of the proposed CIP to my constituents, I made multiple revisions, and the numbers were directly off our CIP. They deserve to know what is in the 814-page document and how it impacts them,” Shafer said, “Mesquite residents have waited their turn for their portion of the parks and New River Trail to be finished.”
More than a dozen residents spoke about the plan at the May 2 meeting, most wearing shirts supporting Beck and arguing Paloma Park has been funded more than aging parks in the south.
Beck said Paloma Park uses 50 million gallons of drinking water a year, and that its expansion is bad policy inherited from the previous administration.
He added that because of inflation and other factors, the initial cost of phase 2 was $22 million and has increased to close to $36 million, and that new construction would use 100 million gallons of water.
Budgets are about difficult choices and life is about trade-offs and priorities, he said.
“Future parks will be added after, and only after, we have taken care of our current parks and our much needed maintenance and rehabilitation projects on these parks that we have prioritized,” Beck said.
Philip Haldiman can be reached at phaldiman@iniusa.org, or on Twitter @philiphaldiman. We’d like to invite our readers to submit their civil comments, pro or con, on this issue. Email AZOpinions@iniusa.org.
Meet Philip Haldiman is an award-winning journalist who most recently took first place for investigative reporting in 2023 from Arizona Newspapers Association. He joined Independent Newsmedia, Inc., USA, in 2015, covering Sun City West his first year. Since 2016, he has covered the city of Peoria. Prior to coming to INI, he was a reporter with The Arizona Republic for seven years, covering numerous cities throughout the Valley. Before that, he was a freelance writer.
Community: Haldiman spearheads the Peoria Independent Hometown Heroes Awards program, honoring local individuals and businesses that give back to the community. He has hosted local candidate forums over the years and is a member of the Society of Professional Journalists. Haldiman also served as a member of the Journalism Program Community Advisory Board at Glendale Community College. Outside journalism, Haldiman served as a member of the city of Peoria Complete Count Committee for the Census, 2019-2020. Lastly, he has served as a member of his HOA governing board since 2021.
Education: Arizona State University with a BA in Journalism and Mass Communications and a BA in Theater.
Random Fact: Haldiman is a fourth-generation Arizonan as well as wrote and produced an autobiographical comic book about his time spent in Hollywood and his life as a cult film star.
Hobbies: He enjoys hiking Arizona’s mountainous landscapes and is currently working on a play for the stage.
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