Council member Matt Orlando said the Chandler City Council has passed an ordinance calling a $475,000,000 bond election for November 2025 to fund parks, public safety and street projects.

The package, committee leaders said, was shaped by a citizen-staff bond committee that reviewed and ranked project requests and reduced an initial roughly $720,000,000 list to the $475,000,000 ballot package. “It was needs not wants,” said Rick Youman, who served on the committee.

Why it matters: city officials told voters the bonds would pay to renovate aging infrastructure and facilities across Chandler after decades of growth, while attempting to preserve the city’s current property tax rate. “We heard loud and clear from the council and the staff we were working with that this this election needs to be no property tax rate increase, period,” said J. Tipps Rainey, who chaired the bond committee.

Committee process and scope: Rainey said the bond committee included roughly 30–32 members divided into subcommittees (public safety, public works, parks, among others) and a steering/master committee. Committee members conducted field visits to sites and held multiple full-length meetings to rank projects and trim the list. “We started with the $700,000,000 request, and we kinda really scrubbed it,” Rainey said. The kickoff for the committee work began in September 2024, committee members said.

What the ballot questions would fund: committee chairs described four broad areas on the ballot. Question wording cited parks and recreation upgrades; police and fire facilities and equipment; and street and traffic improvements.

Parks: Committee members said the parks portion targets upgrades and repairs across the city, citing Dr. A.J. Chandler Park, Foley Pool, Arrowhead Meadows, Desert Breeze and Mesquite Groves among parks discussed. “The biggest thing that every every committee stressed was it was needs not wants,” Youman said.

Public safety: Rainey and Youman said the package includes funds for a new fire station in south Chandler, major renovation of an older west-side station, and upgrades to police technology and radios. They noted a prior bond paid for what the speakers called “Station 2” (Alma School and Warner). “In this day and age of technology…you gotta stay current with technology when you're talking police and fire,” Youman said.

Streets and traffic: The transportation portion is aimed at resurfacing and intersection improvements to address aging streets and traffic flow. Committee members said some bicycle-lane proposals were pushed out because they were treated as wants rather than immediate needs. “Intersection improvements is part of that, road improvements is part of that, and those are all critical items,” Youman said.

Financing and flexibility: Officials emphasized Chandler’s strong credit and said the city is triple-A rated by the three major rating agencies, which reduces borrowing costs. Rainey and Youman said the council directed the committee to design the package without increasing the current property tax rate; they also noted the city can choose not to sell bonds if economic conditions change. “If we don't sell the bonds, therefore it won't be affected at all,” Orlando said.

Public information and next steps: City leaders said an education committee will provide outreach and that voters can find details at chandleraz.gov/bondelections. Rainey encouraged community groups to invite committee members to present. Orlando closed the discussion by thanking committee members and directing residents to the city website for project lists and ballot language.

Ending: The bond ordinance calling the election has been passed by the City Council, committee leaders said; specifics about vote tallies or ordinance sponsors were not provided in the recorded discussion.