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Paradise Valley board adopts $483 million FY26 budget, holds Truth in Taxation hearing
Summary
The Paradise Valley Unified School District Governing Board approved the fiscal year 2026 budget and expenditure of insurance proceeds, held a Truth in Taxation hearing on the district's adjacent-ways levy and noted an expected drop in the district tax rate.
The Paradise Valley Unified School District Governing Board unanimously approved the district's fiscal year 2026 annual budget and the expenditure of insurance proceeds after a public Truth in Taxation hearing.
At the July meeting, a staff presenter summarized that the district's total budget for fiscal year 2026 is “just under” $483,000,000 and that the district's tax rate is expected to fall by a little more than $0.41 per $100 of assessed value. The district also announced an adjacent-ways levy of $1,075,000 for the coming year; those funds fund public-way projects such as sidewalks, sewers, utility lines and safe ingress and egress to schools.
Board members asked for clarifications on parts of the presentation, including the district's approach to adjacent-ways projects (repair, seal or replace asphalt depending on condition) and a clarification that the previously cited $5,100,000,000 figure for lost classroom capacity without an aggregate expenditure limit override referred to the statewide total rather than a district amount. "Sometimes we just seal and recover the lot, but sometimes we do also replace the asphalt too," a district presenter said when asked how decisions are made about paving work.
The budget presentation noted several revenue and expenditure assumptions used in preparing the budget: a 2% base-level support increase, a $50 increase in the Classroom Site Fund per weighted student count, no changes allowed between budget proposal and budget adoption, and expectations for subsequent December revisions should state funding components (such as additional assistance tied to free and reduced-price lunch) materialize. The staff also noted the district will show reduced federal grant receipts in FY26 because ESSER III funding has ended.
During roll call, the board voted unanimously to adopt the budget and related expenditures. The board's recorded votes were: Mrs. Christiansen, Mr. Pantera, Mrs. Greenberg (president), Dr. Lim and Ms. Wani — all voting "aye." The motion passed unanimously.
The district posted the Truth in Taxation notice in a newspaper of general circulation on June 5 and held the required public hearing before the vote. The district's presentation included estimates of the impact on a $100,000 assessed-value home and listed planned adjacent-ways projects including removal/replacement or sealing of asphalt at Campobello, Gramma Hawk Wild, Sweet Water, support services on 30th Street north of the 101, and an Indian Bend rebuild that will include fire-lane work and safe ingress/egress.
Board members asked procedural and technical questions during the discussion and received answers clarifying that decisions to seal versus replace asphalt are made case by case depending on cracking, flooding risk and repair history, and that the adjacent-ways levy is a small portion of the district's overall budget. The motion to approve the FY26 budget and expenditure of insurance proceeds was made and adopted with a unanimous roll call.
The board will publish the vote notification to the Property Tax Oversight Commission as required by the Truth in Taxation procedures. Additional budget changes, if state funding components are finalized, will be reflected in the December budget revision.
