Queen Creek officials present State of the Town

Mayor Julia Wheatley, council members and staff highlighted Queen Creek’s accomplishments in 2025 during the State of the Town presentation Tuesday.

“(W)e know how awesome Queen Creek is — and we saw that reflected in our 2025 Citizen Survey,” Wheatley said at the start of the presentation. “Results indicated that residents are still overwhelmingly pleased with town programs and services — with increases in satisfaction for recreation opportunities, continued decreases in reports of being a victim of crime and 88% rating Queen Creek good or excellent as a place to live.”

Water
The efforts to make Queen Creek water sustainable were some of the major points covered in the presentation.

In 2025, the town purchased 500,000 acre-feet of water from the Harquahala Valley and approved the purchase of 1.2 million additional acre-feet for a total of about $285 million.

The town made its first payment on the 1.2 million acre-foot acquisition on Feb. 17, with the second payment due on July 15.

“This additional water makes 90% of the town’s water supply insulated from water cuts and drought conditions,” Mark Skocypec, the town’s utility director said at the presentation. “These actions are significant steps toward water self-sufficiency and becoming a designated water provider.”

The council will continue to reduce offsetting groundwater replenishment fees at the maximum amount for another year by $9.2 million.

“Reducing groundwater replenishment fees for water customers is an interim solution as the town works toward water self-sufficiency,” Council Member Travis Padilla said. “Since the policy was implemented in 2018, we’ve saved water customers $58 million in replenishment fees.”

Property taxes
In another step to save residents money, the council continued its five-year property tax “freeze” that resulted in property taxes being $2.7 million lower in fiscal year 2024-25.

“We lowered the property tax rate yet again to ensure residents have certainty with the amount they pay to the town in property taxes,” Padilla said.

In a document supporting the presentation, officials stated without the freeze, property taxes would have been $16.6 million instead of $13.9 million during the past fiscal year. The “freeze” started in fiscal year 2023-24.

“The cumulative savings over the five years (are) expected to be approximately $20 million. The freeze ensures an existing property pays the same property tax amount each year, over the five years, even though the assessed value increases by 5% annually. This is accomplished by a corresponding reduction in the levy rate,” according to the document.

Parks and recreation
For the town’s parks and recreation department, 2024 was a banner year with the opening of Frontier Family Park and the expansion of Mansel Carter Oasis Park, but 2025 ushered the anticipated Queen Creek Recreation & Aquatic Center.

Since opening in March 2025, the center has welcomed more than 120,000 visitors, with 1,600 visits over the opening weekend, according to the support document.

Last year, 12,600 total memberships were sold, as were 33,800 day and guest passes.

The aquatic center’s grand opening in May 2025 attracted 4,550 visits over the Memorial Day weekend. Swim lessons attracted more than 1,000 unique registrations, and ramada rentals totaled 2,200 and facility rentals reached 3,300 generating more than $645,000 in revenue.

This spring, the new dog park at Founders’ Park will open.

“Last year, special interest classes reached more than 17,000 participants, a 163% increase from 2024,” Council Member Dawn Oliphant said.

Classes generated $454,000 in revenue for the town.

Roads
As the town grows, so too does the pressure on Queen Creek’s road and highway network.

“Last year, the connection of Crismon to Riggs was completed, which included our first collector roundabout at Cloud and Crismon,” Council Member Robin Benning said. “Improvements were also completed in the northern tier, including widening northbound Ironwood to three lanes from Germann to the State Route 24, and completing Pecos Road from Ironwood to a half mile east."

Also last year, permanent traffic signals were installed at the following intersections:

• Riggs Road and Harvest Lake Drive
• Queen Creek Road and 220th Street
• Ironwood Drive and Pecos Road

Benning also listed transportation projects that started, continued or completed design in 2025:

• Chandler Heights Road from Via del Arroyo to Hawes Road
• Power Road from Chandler Heights to Riggs roads
• Power Road from Riggs Road to Hunt Highway
• Hawes Road from Rittenhouse Road to Jude Drive
• Sossaman and Germann roads intersection improvements in conjunction with Union Pacific Railroad, the city of Mesa and Maricopa County
• Germann and Ellsworth intersection improvements, in conjunction with the city of Mesa

Growth
The town saw continued growth as more businesses and residents moved in.

“In 2025, our development services department permitted an estimated $1 billion in construction value, ensuring quality and safe development for the community, issued nearly 1,250 single-family residential home permits and reviewed nearly 400 business licenses,” Vice Mayor Bryan McClure said, adding the city kicked off its general plan update last year.

The update is planned to go to voters for approval in November 2027.

Economic development
Queen Creek saw an increase in business real estate development downtown and throughout the town.

The wave of commercial projects taking place in Queen Creek’s Downtown Core will bring retail, restaurants, office space and a multifamily development. Area development jumped from 4,000 square feet in 2024 to 230,000 square feet, signaling $200 million in private investment.

The developments under construction in the Downtown Core include Homewood Suites, QC Accounting, The Perch, Circle K, The Switchyard and Rusty Buckle Saloon.

Council Member Jeff Brown said the 92,000-square-foot speculative development near Power and Germann roads — The Pointe at Power Marketplace — is now fully leased.

Meanwhile, phase one of the town’s largest speculative industrial development, Germann Commerce Center, secured three tenants in 2025 with more expected when phase two of the development adds 42 acres.

“Progress continues on LG Energy Solution’s impressive manufacturing facility in our northern tier and is scheduled to begin production in summer 2026,” Brown said. “Their hiring efforts continue, and we look forward to having more local jobs right here for our residents.”

As of December, the facility was 70% complete.

For information on Queen Creek’s milestones in 2025, visit queencreekaz.gov.

Janet Perez can be reached at jperez@iniusa.org. Please send your comments about this article to AzOpinions@iniusa.org. We are committed to publishing a wide variety of reader opinions, as long as they meet our Civility Guidelines.