City Council members
gave a nod on Tuesday to a nearly $880 million bond package heavily
weighted with education, parks and police projects that will be
presented to voters on March 14. Although the overall program is about $30 million more than initially recommended, city officials are confident that property taxes will not increase.
City Manager Frank Fairbanks said that some money was found at the "last minute." Some projects and organizations were able to snag some funding, and others were able to get larger chunks of money.
Among them is Valle del Sol, one of the largest Hispanic behavioral health and social service organizations in the county. They aim to buy a building that will serve as a combined service center for clients.
"I'm thrilled," said Luz Sarmina-Gutierrez, president and CEO of the organization. "I appreciate it. Aside from the money, which is extremely important, I also appreciate the recognition for Valle del Sol and the services we provide."
Despite the criticism from some community members that non-profit organizations should not be allowed to compete for funding against city projects, Sarmina-Gutierrez believes they provide valuable services to people who might otherwise look to the city for services.
"I hope this bond passes," she said. "It's so important for the future of the city."
But even as some cheered the extra money, others walked away empty-handed or felt like they didn't get enough.
R.C. "Jake" Jacobsen, president of the Phoenix Law Enforcement Association, told city officials that the money allocated to the police department was still not enough to buy modern technology or build police stations that are needed today.
"Don't think me greedy," he said. "I speak on behalf of our officers who want nothing more than to protect the community."
Along with Jacobsen, there were several speakers who made last-minute pleas for more here or less there, but the final list of projects was fairly similar to proposals that came from about 700 residents, community and business leaders.
Those volunteers sat on 14 subcommittees and pared down more than $3 billion in requests to $850 million. An executive committee tweaked those recommendations and added about $8 million to the package. After a few recalculations, city staff said the package could increase even more, by about $22 million, without affecting the city's current property tax rates. Most of that went for economic development, parks and police.
The additional money also was carefully spread out to give each district its fair share. Money was set aside for a west-side park, youth programs at a recreation area in the northeast and to buy land for future police stations in northwest, northeast and southwest.
"Not everyone can get what they want," said Councilman Claude Mattox, who represents west Phoenix. "But we're very happy with what's being put forward. I'd like to see more for west-side revitalization, but we have a good pot of money to start with."
Phoenix uses bonds to invest in major capital improvements. Bonds are sold to investors, and the money is used to pay for projects such as buying mountain preserve land for South Mountain Park and building fire stations.
The fire department ranked fifth in the funding list, with nearly $75 million.
"Our goal is to keep up with the volume of training that we need," Assistant Fire Chief Bob Khan said. "We haven't expanded our training facility since 1968."
City officials are now working to draft the ballot language and group the projects in categories.
Voters will be able to approve some areas while rejecting others. City Council is expected to vote on the ballot's final form Nov. 16.
