West Valley City Approved Staggering $1.2 Billion Budget
By Matthew Holloway |
Earlier this month, Goodyear’s City Council passed a massive $1.2 billion budget for 2026, unchanged from the tentative budget presented to the city in May. The budget is a shocking increase of over $304 million year-over-year or approximately 25.3%, without increasing its combined property tax rate or sales tax.
Goodyear Mayor Joe Pizzillo told reporters that the city was impacted by the loss of the city transaction privilege tax (TPT), eliminated as of Jan. 1st, 2025, through Republican tax reforms passed in the state legislature over the objections of Arizona Cities and Towns.
“A lot of cities here in the valley unfortunately had to raise their taxes to make up those $234 million…more than likely (which will) be doubling over the next five to 10 years,” Pizzillo said. “The city of Goodyear did not raise its sales tax or its combined property tax rate.”
Similar to property tax changes in Maricopa County, the city’s Truth in Taxation notice recorded an increase of $303,271. However, the overall property tax rate will not see an increase. This was accomplished by increasing the primary property tax rate, which is statutorily limited to an increase of 2%, while decreasing the secondary property tax keeping the rate effectively the same at $1.74 per $100 assessed property valuation.
In December 2024, Lee Grafstrom, a tax policy expert with Arizona Cities and Towns, told Fox10 that municipalities aren’t “cutting any of the services that citizens are requesting and requiring, so, we still have to do all the same amount of work. We just have this much less money to do it.”
“We have to find a way to either cut services or make up that shortfall,” he added. “This is a minor piece of a solution to a much larger problem, in terms of housing affordability.”
Finance Manager Ryan Bittle asked rhetorically, “‘Why is my property tax bill going up if the rate isn’t changed?’ (It) is one of the typical questions you might hear, and that’s simply because the value of your property is likely more this year than it was last year.”
The changes, according to Bittle, will bring more consistent revenues to Goodyear’s general fund. He explained that the secondary tax rate can only be used for servicing the city’s debts, while the primary property tax provides revenue for approximately 8% of the general fund on an ongoing basis.
In addition, Bittle explained that most of the property taxes paid by Goodyear property owners goes toward education, by a wide margin. “Most of the property taxes paid by citizens here in Goodyear falls outside of council’s decision-making authority,” Bittle said, noting that a full 66% of the collected taxes fund schools with just 15 cents on the dollar going to the city’s coffers.
Matthew Holloway is a senior reporter for AZ Free News. Follow him on X for his latest stories, or email tips to Matthew@azfreenews.com.