PowerPoint Presentation

City of Glendale — Regular Meeting (2025-04-22)

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Potential G. O. Bond Special Election 2025
April 22, 2025

Timeline for 2025 Special Election
2
Timeline
• May 7 - Notify Maricopa County of participation by
• June 8 - Adopt Resolution referring the questions to the ballot.
• June 9 - Ballot language due to County
• August 6 - Last day to submit “for” or “against” statements to City Clerk
• October 8 - Publicity pamphlets mailed
• October 8 - Early voting ballots mailed
• November 4 - Election Day

3
Agenda 
• Overview of G. O. Bonds
• Survey Results
• Council Discussion and Consensus
– Call for a 2025 Special Election

4
General Obligation (G.O.) Bonds
• Paid for using secondary property tax
– Council resolution on a flat levy
• Must be authorized by voters
• Constitutional limits
– Based on Net Assessed Full Cash Value
– Outstanding G.O. debt may not exceed:
• 20% for combined water, sewer, public safety, streets, transportation, 
open space, and parks
• 6% for general municipal purposes

Property Tax
5
• Primary Levy Limit
– Any general fund expense
– Allowable 2% increase per year
• Secondary Levy Limit
– Debt service on General Obligation (G.O.) bonds only
– Currently flat levy 
• Assumes slight growth from new construction

Debt Management Policy
6
• Adopted by City Council in October 2020
• The City Council will not authorize the issuance of new 
G.O. bonds if the levy amount required to pay the debt 
service on the existing G.O. bonds plus the new G.O. 
bonds exceeds the amount of the current year’s tax levy 
plus an amount of up to 2% per year for new growth 
(i.e. new property added to the tax rolls)
• Existing G.O. Debt Service + New G.O. Debt Service ≤ 
Current Levy + 2% for Growth

Secondary Property Tax History
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$19,065 $19,269 $19,588 $19,807 $20,071 $20,409 $20,689 $21,217 $21,837 
$22,838 
$24,424 
$0
$5,000
$10,000
$15,000
$20,000
$25,000
FY15
FY16
FY17
FY18
FY19
FY20
 FY21
 FY22
FY23
FY24
FY25
Secondary Property Tax History (In Thousands)
Secondary Property Tax

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G.O. Bond Debt Service Capacity
 $-
 $5,000,000
 $10,000,000
 $15,000,000
 $20,000,000
 $25,000,000
2025
2026
2027
2028
2029
2030
2031
2032
2033
2034
2035
2036
2037
2038
2039
2040
2041
2042
2043
2044
G.O Bonds Annual Debt Service
Principal
Interest

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Remaining Bond Authority
Category
Amount now remaining
Anticipated Need
Parks and Rec
$0
$95,000,000
Flood Control
$1,875,146
$30,000,000
Government Facilities
$3,714,220
$35,000,000
Library
$6,193,165
$50,000,000

Community Engagement Consultant
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• Per Council direction at January 28, 2025 workshop staff received 
consensus to work with Community Engagement Consultant.
– Professional Polling Firm
– Trust for Public Lands
• Survey conducted week of March 10, 2025
• Statistically valid results
+ or - 4% margin of error

Survey Results
11
•
In General, is the city heading in the right direction
 
62.8% Definitely or probably right
 
16.7% Definitely or probably wrong
•
Top Issues
–
31.5% Homelessness
–
21.5% Public Safety and crime
–
15.3% Streets and transportation
–
11.8% Jobs and the economy
–
9.7% Controlling city spending
–
2.0% Parks and recreation
–
3.5% Other
–
4.0% Don’t know
–
0.7% Refused

Specific Bond Questions Surveyed
12
• $35 million for City Operations Facilities
• $30 million for Flood Control
• $95 million for Parks 
• $50 million for Libraries

Bond Committee
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• Educate committee as subject matter experts
• Begin meeting in May
• Educational focus
– What is a bond?
– What are the key bond funded projects?
– Educational materials

Staff Recommendation 
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• Consensus to notify County of a 2025 Bond Election
• Consensus to Draft Bond Questions return to council
• Two bond questions
– Flood Control for $30 million
– Government Facilities for $35 million
• Consider Parks and Libraries in a future election
– Conduct a similar poll in early 2026

Questions?
15