Buckeye adopts $819.67 million FY26 budget; CIP, bonds and staffing increases highlighted

Buckeye — The City Council on June 3 adopted Resolution 11-25, approving the city’s final budget for fiscal year 2025–26 at $819,669,500.

The budget matters because it directs spending across the city’s operations and capital programs, including a multi-year capital improvement plan and debt service for a bond issuance.

Greg, the budget presenter, told council the all-funds revenue and expenditure total is $819,669,500 and that the FY26 plan relies on $235.7 million in fund balance for primarily one-time capital purchases. Greg said bond proceeds account for about $162.9 million (including an $82 million bond issuance and roughly $75 million in G.O. bonds), with transaction privilege tax (TPT) revenue of about $96.7 million as the largest recurring revenue source. “We did not make any adjustments to the final budget from the tentative budget,” Greg said during his presentation.

The city’s capital outlay is listed at $437.5 million (about 53 percent of the total budget), with $277 million allocated to the capital improvement program (CIP) for FY26. Personnel services in the general fund are about $115.5 million; the budget recommends adding 67 full-time-equivalent positions across all funds for FY26, bringing total authorized positions to approximately 962.3. Staff recommended a 2.5 percent cost-of-living adjustment for all employees and other merit and step adjustments for certain groups.

Council opened the required public hearing and received no speakers; following the hearing, council approved Resolution 11-25. The vote was recorded as unanimous approval. The budget will guide appropriations, bond issuances, CIP work and staff hiring for the coming fiscal year.