Goodyear council adopts $1.24 billion tentative budget, sets June public hearings

The Goodyear City Council on May 19 adopted a tentative fiscal year 2026 budget totaling $1,240,703,500 and authorized publication and next steps, including a public hearing June 9 and a special meeting immediately afterward to adopt the final budget and a property levy hearing scheduled for June 23.

Ryan Biddle, finance manager of budget and research for the City of Goodyear, told the council the primary changes since the manager's recommended budget are timing-related carryovers of roughly $268 million and other timing adjustments. "Carryovers are simply an administrative process that aligns the timing of one-time expenditures with the fiscal year that we anticipate these expenditures to hit," Biddle said.

The tentative budget includes several one-time and capital changes that staff said do not increase ongoing operating commitments. The council also approved a separate item authorizing the list of budgeted expenditures above $500,000 as required by recent procurement code revisions; that authorization passed 7-0.

Council members singled out public safety additions as a high priority. Brandon Hampton, council member, asked about personnel additions; Chief and staff stated the budget includes 21 new sworn police officers. "This budget will include 21 police officers," a member of police leadership said during the meeting.

Budget presentations also addressed planned event and facility items. David Side, interim department operations director, provided cost details for the holiday rink: "The cost for the synthetic ice is about a hundred and 70,000," he said, and staff said the real-ice option would have cost about $377,000. City staff and the city manager said they will pursue sponsorships but will proceed with synthetic ice unless additional funding is secured.

Biddle described other carryover-driven adjustments such as moving a ballpark liner project from fiscal 2027 into 2026 to support leasing and marketing of commercial space at the ballpark. He said contingency and CIP reserve dollars were also adjusted to offset timing shifts.

The council voted 7-0 to adopt Resolution No. 2025-2469 as the tentative estimate of revenues and expenditures and to set the public hearings; the council also voted 7-0 to authorize the fiscal-year list of expenditures above $500,000. Staff told the council the true reconciliation of expenditures will occur after year-end close in August.

The council emphasized there are no tax rate increases proposed in the tentative budget. Next procedural steps are a June 9 public hearing and adoption of the final budget at a special meeting immediately following, with property tax levy adoption set for June 23.