Budget Review Commission hears city revenue forecast; commissioners press on maintenance, preserve tax and project costs

Scottsdale’s Budget Review Commission on Feb. 27 heard a detailed presentation from City Treasurer and Chief Financial Officer Sonya Andrews on the city’s major operating revenues and capital funding sources, and pushed staff for more detail on maintenance funding, voter-approved tax uses and risks to the FY 2025–26 forecast.

Andrews told commissioners the presentation used FY 2024–25 budgeted revenues as a baseline while the FY 2025–26 projections were still being finalized. “We are still currently working on our fiscal year 25, 26 revenue projections,” she said, adding staff expects the coming year’s revenues to be “more or less the same” as the current year but that growth is likely to slow from pandemic-era peaks.

The nut graf: the commission focused on how much of Scottsdale’s core government services depend on a few tax streams and on restricted, voter-approved levies. Commissioners repeatedly pressed staff to clarify which revenues are truly available for operating needs and which are legally restricted to specific capital or programmatic purposes — and to show the city’s plan for maintaining existing assets.

Most of the commission’s questions centered on three revenue buckets Andrews identified as making up roughly three-quarters of governmental (non‑enterprise) revenue: the local sales tax, state-shared revenues and property taxes. Andrews explained enterprise and internal service funds (water, sewer, airport, solid waste, health self‑insurance, fleet and risk management) are largely fee-supported and therefore “do not rely on taxes.” She said the city’s largest operating source…