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El Mirage council adopts notice to change miscellaneous fees, considers two property-tax options
Summary
The council adopted a notice of intent to change various fees and directed staff to include a proposed property tax option; the motion included an alternate property tax option based on new growth only, and council approved the notice 6-1 (Council Member Gentry opposed).
The El Mirage Common Council on March 4 adopted a notice of intent to change certain municipal fees — including consolidated fire alarm and sprinkler fees and a restructure of false-alarm charges — and asked staff to include an alternative property-tax option in the notice.
Staff said the adopted fee schedules list maximums that the city could charge and that many changes were clarifications to wording to help businesses understand fee purposes. For fire-related fees, staff combined fire alarm and sprinkler system charges into single fees for each category and changed the false-alarm fee schedule to several tiers. The staff presenter also described the property tax options: a "recommended" option that captures the maximum allowed by state law, including the constitutional 2% levy limit growth for primary property tax, and an "alternate" option that captures only new construction growth (so-called "growth pays for growth").
Staff presented numeric examples for 2025: a primary property-tax rate of 1.6930 under the recommended option versus 1.6596 under the alternate; staff said the difference amounts to $65,833 in levy between the two options (the figures in the packet were based on 2024 data). Staff also reviewed the "truth in taxation" requirement that triggers notification when the levy to be collected would increase compared with the prior year.
Council discussed how the alternate option would hold the tax rate roughly steady for most homeowners while capturing revenue from new commercial/residential construction. Several members asked for clarification about the alternate and the recommended options and staff confirmed the alternate excludes the constitutional 2% increase but includes new construction growth.
Vice Mayor Parsons moved to adopt the notice of intent to change certain fees and include the alternate property tax option in the notice; Council Member Winston seconded. The council approved the motion with one no vote from Council Member Gentry; the ayes carried 6-1 in the transcript.
Staff will publish the required notice and return with the property-tax hearing and additional exhibits per statutory requirements.
