The Peoria City Council unanimously approved the fiscal year 2024 final budget, May 16.
Leading up to this vote, the city council approved the tentative budget for fiscal year 2024, setting the maximum appropriation at $950 million, May 2.
Adoption of the final budget complies with the requirements set forth by Arizona Revised Statutes for the publishing of the proposed budget and public hearings held prior to final budget adoption.
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The Peoria City Council unanimously approved the fiscal year 2024 final budget, May 16.
Leading up to this vote, the city council approved the tentative budget for fiscal year 2024, setting the maximum appropriation at $950 million, May 2.
Adoption of the final budget complies with the requirements set forth by Arizona Revised Statutes for the publishing of the proposed budget and public hearings held prior to final budget adoption.
City Manager Henry Darwin said the proposed budget totals $950 million, which represents an increase from the $783 million budget last year, and reflects the city’s efforts and success in weathering inflation.
About one-third of the increases in the budget are a direct result of inflationary influences or impacts, he said.
The budget includes funding for 31.5 new full-time employees, the majority of which are for the police department — $3.3 million for 13 sworn patrol officers and $731,000 for six civilian positions.
Some council members had concerns about the 10-year capital improvement program, which passed on a split vote, May 2.
Based on a negative response from their constituents and concerns over decreased funding for parks and recreation, Councilmembers Brad Shafer, Michael Finn and Bill Patena voted against the CIP.
The mayor and council’s top three priorities for the CIP include water, public safety and economic development.
Funding for capital projects for those areas include: $171 million for water, $13.4 million for public safety and $39.5 million for economic development.
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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