Queen Creek council adopts FY2025-26 final budget and corporate strategic plan

Queen Creek Town Council on May 22 unanimously approved the town's fiscal year 2025-26 final budget and adopted the corporate strategic plan for the coming year.

The council voted 7-0 to adopt the $628,000,000 final budget after a public hearing and a brief presentation by Deputy Town Manager and CFO Scott McCarty and Town Manager Bruce Gardner. Councilmembers also unanimously approved the FY26 corporate strategic plan, which McCarty described as the guiding document that links the town's priorities to the budget.

Why it matters: Council and staff said the budget ties resources to five strategic priorities—effective government, safe community, secure future (utilities), superior infrastructure and quality of lifestyle—and preserves a property-tax freeze while directing nearly half the budget toward capital and infrastructure projects.

McCarty told the council the final budget reflects two notable changes from the tentative plan: the town closed a long-running water purchase transaction (described in the presentation as the Harquihala water purchase) and approved the acquisition of land for a future park (the Bridal land), which resulted in a $55,000,000 reduction to the tentative budget. McCarty said the revised final budget is approximately $628,000,000 and showed about $300,000,000 (roughly 48% of the total) allocated to capital and infrastructure.

McCarty outlined operating and staffing changes in the operating budget, which he said is approximately $187,000,000. The plan includes 37 new full-time-equivalent positions across the town, with most added to operating departments; McCarty said 4 FTEs would establish an initial town attorney's office. McCarty and Gardner also noted targeted staffing and service-level increases for police, fire and transportation programs.

Council discussion ranged from praise for staff work on the budget to questions about staffing ratios and priorities. Councilmember McClure thanked staff for producing a lower final number and noted the distinction between a budget appropriation and actual spending. Vice Mayor Martineau and Councilmember Benning both praised staff for conservative requests and collaborative work to align the budget with the strategic plan. Councilmember Padilla expressed concerns about the scale of parks spending and rising maintenance commitments, and reiterated a preference to direct more resources to transportation; Padilla also said he favors eliminating the town's food sales tax in the future. Councilmember Brown and others answered clarifying questions about how FTE percentages relate to the operating budget versus the total budget.

Town Manager Bruce Gardner emphasized that the budget supports the strategic priorities and noted the town's multi-step adoption process under Arizona law.

Votes at a glance: - Motion to approve the Town of Queen Creek FY26 corporate strategic plan: mover Councilmember Oliphant; second Councilmember Benning; outcome: approved unanimously (7-0). - Resolution adopting the FY26 final town budget (resolution referenced in the meeting as "Resolution 16 30 nine-twenty 5"): mover Councilmember Brown; second Councilmember Benning; outcome: approved unanimously (7-0) during a special meeting called for adoption. - Consent agenda actions (related procedural votes): the consent agenda minus item B2 passed unanimously; consent agenda item B2 was later moved and passed 5-2 (the transcript records the 5-2 tally but does not name the two no votes).

Council and staff emphasized several near-term financial and planning actions tied to the budget: spending of Pinal County infrastructure funds described in the staff presentation as "the $30.33, or $35,000,000" for state lands infrastructure; updated impact fees that began May 12; and upcoming fee and rate studies for water, wastewater, solid waste and recycling. McCarty also described five-year planning that accounts for future capital burdens, including a planned police headquarters mortgage, parking garage, fleet maintenance building, an additional fire station and future PD dispatch services.

The council's adoption of the corporate strategic plan and budget sets the policy and fiscal direction for FY26. The town manager and CFO said they will bring the property-tax adoption before the council at the next scheduled meeting, completing the formal two-step process required under Arizona law.

The council recessed the regular meeting, convened a special meeting to adopt the final budget, recorded the unanimous vote to adopt the resolution, then reconvened and adjourned the regular session.