Glendale City officials described two general obligation bond measures the Glendale City Council placed on the November ballot, saying one would fund flood-control projects across the city and the other would fund upgrades to the city operations campus, including fleet and equipment facilities and building replacements.

City staff said the bonds would be repaid through the city’s secondary property-tax levy and that, under the city’s long-standing flat-levy policy, they do not expect the measures to increase residents’ secondary property-tax rates if property valuations and other assumptions remain stable. A staff presenter said voters will be asked to approve about $35 million for operations facilities; the presenter described the other question as focused on flood control but did not provide a consolidated dollar total for that question during the presentation.

The city explained why the measures matter: general obligation bonds allow municipalities to finance large capital projects over 20 to 25 years, but constitutional limits and category-specific debt caps constrain how much debt a city may issue. The presenter said bonds are typically issued only when projects are underway or ready to begin, and that bond proceeds must generally be spent within three years of issuance to avoid federal arbitrage rules that can require repayment of excess investment earnings on tax-exempt bond proceeds.

Officials outlined specific projects included in planning. For flood control, staff identified a major project near First Avenue and Third Avenue in the Bethany Home area intended to collect and route runoff into a nearby retention basin; staff said the project involves coordination and matching funds with the Maricopa County Flood Control District and may involve the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. For operations facilities, staff said funds would be used to demolish unsafe or failing buildings on the operations campus (including a former knitting-factory building known as Spring City), rebuild or refurbish other structures, expand parking or workspace as needed, and address leaking roofs and inefficient storage conditions.

Staff cited recent projects completed with voter-approved bond authority as examples, including a new police evidence storage facility on the operations campus, Fire Station 153, and replacement of underground fuel-storage tanks. The presenter said some costs for operations-campus work may be paid from enterprise funds (water, wastewater, solid waste) and therefore reimbursed from the associated utility or service charges rather than property tax.

The presenter also described the city’s credit-rating improvement over time, noting a Fitch AAA rating and an improved Standard & Poor’s rating compared with earlier years, and said the ratings help the city obtain favorable borrowing terms.

City staff emphasized procedural safeguards: the presenter said the council previously adopted a resolution that — as described in the presentation — restricts issuing general obligation bonds that would increase the city’s secondary property-tax levy, and that bond language for the operations campus is expected to be specific to ensure funds are used only for operations-campus purposes.

Staff invited the public to discuss project details with subject-matter staff after the presentation; the presenter named Michelle Waitinco (staff) as a contact for operations-campus questions and David Beard and John Murphy as contacts for flood-control project questions. Voting on the measures will occur in the November ballot referenced by staff.

The presentation included an estimated cost statement for the operations-campus upgrades, but the numeric figure given in the transcript is unclear; the presenter described the program as a substantial investment but did not provide a clear, single total during the remarks recorded in the transcript.