Fiscal Impact Summary

City of Glendale — Regular Meeting (2021-09-28)

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RANGE OF FISCAL IMPACTS  
FOR ORGANICS LOOP 303 ANNEXATION  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
AUGUST 2021 
 
 
 
 
11209 N. Tatum Boulevard, Suite 225 * Phoenix, AZ  85028 * 602-765-2400 tel * 602-765-2407 fax

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Introduction 
The following summary presents the fiscal impacts of annexation for the Organics Loop 303 property, 
which includes 76.36 gross acres that is anticipated to develop as light industrial development.  The 
Organics Loop 303 property is located on the SWC of Bethany Home Road and Sarival Road, just east of 
the Loop 303.  Detail on specific users is not yet known; therefore this analysis presents a range of possible 
impacts based on hypothetical scenarios for the types of light industrial uses that could develop in this 
area.    
The potential types of uses include: 1) an unoccupied shell building; 2) leased warehouse; and 3) leased 
manufacturing.  Various assumptions were developed for each scenario regarding employment density, 
lease rates and capital investment (construction and FF&E).   While these assumptions are based on recent 
projects, as well as published sources for lease rates and construction costs, they are simply intended to 
show a general range of possible economic and fiscal impacts.   
Another potential use for light industrial space is e-commerce, specifically fulfillment centers that 
represent point of sale for shipments.  These types of projects are highly competitive and they can yield a 
significant amount of sales tax revenue.  However, since there are a limited number of these projects 
looking at the Phoenix metro area, this type of potential use was not explicitly considered in the analysis. 
The point of this exercise is simply to frame what each type of use could bring to the city in terms of the 
number and quality of jobs, as well as the fiscal impacts, and how that result could be scaled to the 
Organics Loop 303 property.  Note that there are often tradeoffs between high-quality jobs and revenue 
generation for light industrial uses. 
Project Assumptions 
The table below presents the results for 1 million square feet of each user type in terms of capital 
investment, jobs and wage levels, annual fiscal impacts (revenues less expenditures for city operating 
funds), one-time fees (construction sales tax, development impact fees, estimated permit fees) and 
overall ranking.  This is followed by the “blended average” for Organics Loop 303 that includes 426,000 
square feet of warehousing and 426,000 square feet of manufacturing for a total of 851,300 square feet 
in two buildings.  The total number of square feet is consistent with the parcel size and the proposed site 
plan.  It is assumed that all of the space would be leased.  The impacts assume that 0.24 new lane miles 
on Bethany Home Road and 0.44 new lane miles on Sarival Road would be added to the city for on-going 
maintenance.

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COMPARATIVE IMPACTS OF POTENTIAL LIGHT INDUSTRIAL USERS 
AND ORGANICS LOOP 303 BLENDED AVERAGE  
 
• 
Capital investment is represented by a combination of building costs and FF&E, both of which 
generate property taxes for the city.  Construction activity also results in significant one-time sales 
taxes.  Manufacturing has higher capital investment than other uses based on the nature of their 
operations and the corresponding building and equipment requirements.  The leased warehouse has 
less capital investment than manufacturing.  The empty shell represents the low end with an 
unfinished building and no equipment, and is a temporary condition.  The total construction cost for 
Organics Loop 303 is estimated at $113.8 million for 0.9 million square feet of light industrial space. 
 
• 
Jobs and average wages are important not only in terms of the number of jobs created, but also the 
quality of jobs as represented by average wages.  To the extent that workers live in Glendale, higher 
wages translate into more taxable spending and higher value housing.  Typical warehouse operations 
create a limited number of jobs with generally lower average wages than manufacturing.  
Manufacturing represents a relatively high job density, among light industrial uses, with above 
average wages.  However manufacturing wages vary significantly based on the type of product being 
produced.  It is estimated that the light industrial development in Organics Loop 303 could support 
about 525 jobs at an average wage of $49,000. 
 
Fiscal Results 
 
• 
One-time fees are related to construction and are generally proportional to the construction cost 
because construction sales taxes make up the largest share of one-time fees.  Development impact 
fees (DIF) are the same for all types of light industrial uses since they are based on building square 
footage.  One-time fees also include estimated planning and permitting fees that are generally 
proportional to construction costs. Total one-time fees for Organics Loop 303 are estimated at $3.4 
million.  This number does not include any streets DIF fees or the value of any infrastructure that may 
be constructed by the developer. 
 
• 
The annual fiscal impacts represent the net value of these different types of light industrial users to 
the city in terms of revenues less expenditures.  These annual fiscal impacts are intended to be order 
Building Use
Building 
Square 
Feet
Building 
Construction 
(millions)
FF&E 
(millions)
Jobs
Average 
Wage
One-Time 
Fees*
Annual 
Revenues less 
Expenditures
Overall 
Ranking
Empty Shell
1,000,000
$77.0
$0.0
0
$0
$2,417,000
$20,000
Low
Leased Warehouse
1,000,000
$126.9
$22.0
400
$43,926
$3,794,000
$180,000
Medium
Leased Manufacturing
1,000,000
$140.4
$100.0
833
$53,177
$4,167,000
$240,000
High
Organics Loop 303 Blended 
Average (50% warehouse, 50% 
manufacturing)
851,300
$113.8
$51.9
525
$48,552
$3,389,000
$180,000 Med High
*One Time Fees include construction sales tax, estimated planning and permitting fees and development impact fees in West Glendale.

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of magnitude only.  For each type of use, there are a variety of factors imbedded in the assumptions 
that will affect the magnitude of fiscal impacts for individual users, including the level of capital 
investment, amount of new street lane miles added, lease rates and the presence of taxable sales. 
The combination of light industrial users that are anticipated for Organics Loop 303 could result in 
a net impact to the city of $180,000 per year, excluding one-time revenues.  
 
• 
The overall rankings show low impacts for the shell building, medium impacts for leased warehouse, 
and high impacts for leased manufacturing.  These three scenarios represent the typical possibilities 
for light industrial land in Glendale.  The combination of uses proposed for Organics Loop 303 would 
produce a medium high net impact, given the range of possibilities for light industrial uses. 
 
ANNUAL FISCAL IMPACTS OF STANDARD LIGHT INDUSTRIAL USERS  
AND ORGANICS LOOP 303 ANNEXATION 
 
Summary 
These results frame the range of potential impacts that the Organics Loop 303 annexation could have on 
the city budget.  All of the user types shown here generate a positive net fiscal impact, but at varying 
magnitudes.  The long-term net impacts (revenues less expenditures) for Organics Loop 303 are estimated 
at $180,000 per year, including $300,000 in annual revenues and $120,000 in annual expenditures, 
excluding one-time taxes and fees.  The magnitude of the impacts is proportional to the size of the 
development and relatively modest, although estimated annual revenues exceed expenditures by 150 
percent.   
This analysis is intended to illustrate the range of possible impacts for development in the Organics Loop 
303 annexation. The actual fiscal impacts will depend on the mix of final users, as well as other factors 
such as capital investment, lease rates and other project details.   
 
$50,000
$300,000
$410,000
$300,000
$30,000
$120,000
$170,000
$120,000
$20,000
$180,000
$240,000
$180,000
$0
$50,000
$100,000
$150,000
$200,000
$250,000
$300,000
$350,000
$400,000
$450,000
1M SF Shell
1M SF Warehouse
1M SF Manufacturing
0.85M SF Organics 303
Revenues
Expenditures
Net Benefit
Organics Loop 303 
Blended Avg