City Council Formal Meeting - Regular Meeting

Today is more than a groundbreaking. It is a pivotal moment in the future of our history, our our city, our health outcomes and job markets. Phoenix has always been a city that that builds builds opportunity, builds solutions, and increasingly builds what's next. And what's next right now is ASU Health. We're so excited for today's investment. ASU Health gets to learn from what other universities have done, their many mistakes and and some successes, and build the medical investments of the future. Our peer cities wish they could have a school of technology for public health, a health solutions college, the nation's top school for nursing health innovation. We all needed the observatory in 2020. This moment is a result of bold vision and extraordinary leadership. I'm so glad to be joined today by my colleagues on the city council, vice mayor Hajj Washington, council members Annne O'Brien, Laura Pastor Wearing, and Kevin Robinson. We're joined by our great city manager Ed Zurker. A huge thank you to people at every level of government, including our governor Katie Hobbs, who shares this priority with us. For us on the Phoenix Phoenix City Council, it really is a big day. We voted unanimously two weeks ago to make the single largest investment in the bioscience sector in our city's history. 50 million for us. This is a $50 million investment. I think I get to do this once as mayor and I'm so glad that today's the day. It includes $12 million approved by our very bright voters who said, "Yes, we want to use our property tax to invest in ASU health, chaired by the vice mayor." And then just last month, we invested a new 38 million from the city's sports facility, bioscience, and tourism fund over 10 years. A huge thank you to Dr. Crow, who has

been an incredible partner for us. Arizona's gem. Our number one university for innovation is a force in solving the biggest problems and helping us be ahead of what's coming. We've done very well in Phoenix with understanding where the economy is going and making the investments we need and and today is absolutely a day where we move forward with that agenda. ASU health is a model for the future of medicine. Dr. Crow and I have been talking about this for years. How do we take what we're already good at, our great medical technology, semiconductors, but not rest? Where is the future going and and how can we be ready? And we are so excited to be able to make this investment to to educate, innovate, scale, and serve. We have so many partners and we're so thankful to the generosity and forward-thinking philanthropy of of Dr. Shufelt. Thank you. You share so many of our values including support for our first responders, women's health care and and caring as well as investing in entrepreneurs. We're an entrepreneurial city and and we can't rest with our our success. We're excited about the dual degrees and how the MD and engineering at the medical school will help us move forward as well as the incredible uh degrees from nursing to translational health research. A huge thank you to Dr. Gabriel for your leadership. It is a pinch me moment for me too today to to our our partner deans to de listenbell deans khmer pathic and Indian leads as well. Thank you. We love talking with you how you can help us address so many of the solution or the challenges we face as a community and and how you're so solution forward. other mayors would be lucky to have this kind of great partnership and just incredible resources. We have so you mean world-class professionals and and you're willing to consult with us on challenges that that the city faces. So

so thank you. It really means so much. This is so much more than a traditional academic program where engineering meets medicine, where data becomes diagnosis and where innovation moves at the speed of need. It is our next major economic and public health engine. As part of our agreement between ASU and the city, we're going to be able to address some of our priorities as a city council, including public safety and first responder health. Uh we are joined by our our fire chief Mike Duran, as well as Brian Willingham from local 493 who represents our firefighters. You know, more than 130 of our firefighters in in fairly recent times have had occupational cancer diagnosis. Uh we've lost too many of our team. ASU is going to help us address that and and thank you for your leadership and partnership. I think this could be a national model that'll save firefighter lives far beyond Arizona. This is a priority as well that that is a a Board of Regents priority, one of the very key board of regents grants um to help address occupational cancer and firefighters. And and thank you for creating that important program. And and maybe to to thread the two, a lot of this program, Dr. Howard and and Kevin Robinson, we had a a big Chinese food summit. Sorry, Dean Udell about the Chinese food. Uh where we talked about how we could work together more closely and it's so exciting to see this moving forward. The br the regents have been really incredible partners for us. So, uh regents, uh Goodyear, Duval, uh Brewster Stein, thank you for these investments. And a special thank you to to Fred Duval. Arizona Healthy Tomorrow is reaching its promise. Today you did what you said you were going to do. Uh Fred's father was the founding dean for the U of A medical school. And how cool that your family legacy extends to today and then you could be with us as we

bring this investment to the city of Phoenix. And and with your two sons, maybe uh Yuma and Flagstaff could also get medical schools. Uh among the other areas where uh ASU health will help us is women's care. Councilman O'Brien, Councilman Pastor and I have have talked about women's healthcare needs some disrupting and uh we are very excited to see how health innovation and our nurses I my sense is they got a lot of solutions that we got to bring to market and and that uh the uh we will be able to do that as well as new medical devices from maternal health to menopause they haven't got the right amount of attention Dr. Crow and I have talked about so often when you're doing medical devices, it seems to be for 30-year-old men and a lot of us have different challenges that are not 30-year-old men challenges. So, we're ready to take that on and and we think in addition to making life better and healthier for our residents that we'll also be creating the companies of the future and and great jobs in our community. So, um a huge thank you. We have the the team from Arizona FEM which is trying to help women focus businesses and technology um us be a leader in this area including uh Mitsy Crover who is with us and we're helping founders get from funding to really delivery. So a lot of cool things happening here. This type of agreement between a city and a university with focuses such as women's health is a first of a kind. But I I'm guessing it won't be the last if if it's as successful as I guess it will be. I want to thank our partners at the state legislature as well for for your support and and work together. This really is an Arizona win and we're so thank you including there's some SE democrats who

were very involved in in the funding that lets us move forward here today. Uh we're excited about the the building as well. You know, as a mayor, you care about your downtown. And the vice mayor and I represent this area and want gorgeous architecture and a sustainable first-in-class high techch building where it will make sense for the connectivity we need for AI. So, thank you to DFTG and the team at McCarthy. We're so excited you are on the case for us. We're looking forward to making sure that we build on the excellence already happening in downtown Phoenix. From nationally recognized programs at the Sandra Day Okconor College of Law, Advancing Health, Law and Policy, to the incredible ecosystem with the Phoenix Bioscience Corps, Wexford, and more. We're going to move discovery from lab to life. Imagine the future taking shape. A student learns to code and diagnose in the same classroom. A startup can move from concept to clinical application within blocks. A patient benefits from precision medicine powered by engineering. Phoenix is a city that commits fully to building the workforce, infrastructure, and partnerships that make it all possible. We're already the number one city for startup startups and one of the fastest growing bioinnovation hubs in the country. But we are not resting. With ASU Health, we're accelerating that momentum, training the professionals of the future, advancing discovery, and ensuring that we deliver innovation for every resident, particularly those who are most vulnerable. Thank you to everyone who's involved in today's extraordinary milestone.

Vice Mayor of Phoenix and City Council member in whose district the ASU Health Headquarters will be Kesha Hajj Washington. Good morning. We can do better than that. Good morning. Good morning.

That's much better. We are here to celebrate and we should have a the right attitude. So, I'm grateful to start us off with that. Good morning. It's my honor to be here with each and every one of you today. As mentioned, I am Vice Mayor Kisha Hajj Washington and I have the honor and privilege of representing District 8 where we are right now. And it's especially meaningful for me because this project is right here in our district. It is on the Phoenix Bioscience CPS campus, which is not only a point of pride for the city of Phoenix, but it's a point of pride for our state. And I think it's a point of pride also for our nation. I have the opportunity to speak with other elected officials, especially I went to NLC a few weeks ago, and many of them are grappling with exactly what we are solving here. They are trying to figure out how to deal with the health disparities in their community. And I'm like just look at us, we are doing it. So I am especially proud to have led the efforts around the 2023 go bond program which helped make this possible. It is a project as a mayor mentioned that our voters had in this is a project kind of projects our voters had in mind when they made that investment and I want to thank them again for their overwhelming support. We would not be able to do this without the voters of Phoenix. Today for me is also more than just a building. It is about building a stronger, healthier future for the people we serve. These headquarters represent the full vision of ASU Health. A place where disciplines come together to solve real challenges in healthcare. This isn't just one school. It's a connected system designed to improve how we educate, innovate, and care for people. More than 20 years ago, I was a student at ASU at the Sandra Dea Okconor College of Law, and I took public health law. And this is exactly the type of program we envisioned. So as a proud Sunundevil, I know that ASU excels in every aspect of education and I am confident that ASU Health would

will exceed our expectations and our metrics of success. This facility, as you've heard, will be home to the John Shufeld School of Medicine and Advanced Medical Engineering, the School of Technology for Public Health, the Edson College of um nursing and health innovation, and the College of Health Solutions. Each of these play a critical role. Together, they create something truly impactful for our communities to enhance the future of medicine, engineering, and public health. There's also an investment in people. creating opportunities, improving outcomes, and building a healthier, more resilient community. As part of this project, we will prepare a workforce that reflects the needs of our residents. We will increase access to workforce training. We will conduct cuttingedge research. We will create new pathways into highquality careers in healthcare and biosciences. And we will build on the momentum of the Phoenix Bioscience Corps. I say we because this is a collective effort and I am proud of the role that we have played in getting this project to this point. I'm excited to see what this means for the future of District 8 and the city of Phoenix. One of the benefits of following our very thorough mayor as I don't get to have to name as many people. But I too want to thank Governor Hobbes. I also want to thank Mayor Ggo for not only spearheading this, but giving me the opportunity to lead the Go Bond campaign. I want to thank in her absence Congresswoman Yasamin Ansar. I know her office is here. I also want to thank you, President Crowe, for your vision and for all of the things that you have done to move our community forward. To the Arizona Board of Regents, thank you. Thank you for your leadership, your guidance, and your vision. And I want to say thank you to all of our partners who have helped make this vision a reality. So, today we break ground. Tomorrow we deliver results for our community. And so, I thank you and say congratulations again to everyone involved. And now,

please welcome the 24th governor of the state of Arizona and a graduate of Arizona State University where she earned a master's of social work, Katie Hobbs.

Good morning everyone. I am thrilled to join you all for this very exciting groundbreaking. As you heard from Dr. Gabriel, nearly three years ago, we launched a healthy tomorrow. The a healthy tomorrow initiative. This is a bold step forward to deliver quality health care to Arizonans across the state and uh I have to thank the regions for your leadership and vision in helping launch this initiative. Uh it recognizes the healthc care workforce gap um that that we have. Uh we knew that we needed to invest in attracting and retaining qualified professionals and um this is a solution that all three universities are playing a role in. President Crowe, of course, was excited to jump in for ASU's part, and it made sense. It makes sense for them to take on a role with innovation at its core. ASU Health, as you've already heard from speakers previous to me, has a bold vision to reinvent health care for the better by transforming healthcare delivery, embracing technology as a way to improve health care, and growing at a scale that will be impactful in improving healthcare access. I'm proud that we've been able to make multiple investments to support the a healthy tomorrow initiative and ASU Health most notably in last year's budget working to expand bonding capacity uh which is a significant part of this building uh and also a testament to what we can do when we work together to find solutions for uh for Arizona. We

Good morning, Mayor. Can you hear us? Good morning. Yes, I can. Wonderful. Thank you. Thank you. All right. Good morning and welcome to our citywide hybrid trial budget presentation. Start. You're ready to start.

Okay, we'll do this again. One minute or so. Good morning and welcome to the city manager's proposed budget hearing. This is our bilingual virtual and in-person hybrid meeting on April 11th. Uh we're here in the city council chambers and we're pleased to be joined by the mayor and many council members who you'll hear from in a moment. Uh first I would like to introduce our interpreter and have her uh introduce herself for today's hearing.

Thank you. Good morning. My name is Elsie Darte and along with Oscar Monroy, we will be providing interpretation during today's budget audience. I will now take a moment to introduce ourselves to our Spanish speaking audience. Simultane. Gracias. Thank you.

Thank you, Elsie. At this point, I would like to invite our mayor K Ggo to offer some opening remarks. Mayor Ggo. Phoenix. Good morning, Phoenix Mayor Kate Ggo. I'm excited to be here with my council colleagues, our city manager, Ed Zurker, and our deputy city manager, Amber Williamson. We're looking forward to hearing from you about the budget priorities. This is our ninth of 12 budget meetings, and it really helps us understand what is on people's minds. So, thank you for your interest in our city and all the important work that we do. And now I'll turn it to the vice mayor of the city of Phoenix, Councilwoman Hajj Washington.

Good morning. Thank you, Mayor. Good morning. Um, I do want to echo the sentiments of the mayor. I want to start off by saying thank you to for Thank you for staff for coming in on a Saturday for us. We uh really pride ourselves in being uh available to our community and I want to thank all of our community members for taking your time on a Saturday morning to care enough about your community to come out and have your voice heard. Um I look forward to hearing your thoughts on our proposed trial uh proposed budget and I would love to specifically hear if you have comments about um some of the new proposed additional projects or programs including master leasing um and those types of things. So again, thank you for taking the time to be here and I look forward to hearing from each and every one of you. Thank you, Vice Mayor. Next, we'll hear from our council members who are online and then we'll hear from our council members who are here in person. I will start with District 3 Council Member Deborah Stark. Council Member Stark,

thank you. I'll be very quick. I'm sorry I can't be there in person today. One of my neighborhoods had a pancake breakfast, so I started out the morning in a positive way. But I'm here to hear what everyone has to say about our budget. Anxious to see what priorities are in our community. And so, thank you so much for having this virtually.

Thank you, Council Member Stark. And now, uh, Council District 4, Council Member Laura Pastor. Phoenix. Uh, good morning everybody. I am at Phoenix College with Metra students restoring a mural and I couldn't be there this morning but I am online and uh please give a voice to what is needed in our community. Thank you.

Thank you Council Member Pastor with us here now is District 1 Councilwoman Ann O'Brien. Thank you so much, Ed, and thank you to uh all the community members who've come out to share their thoughts and input on what we've proposed or maybe what you think we have missed. I'd also like to give a shout out to our city manager, um Ed Zurker, as well as our deputy city manager, Amber Williamson, and our budget and research director, Aaron Mertz, for all the hard work on this budget. Um, some people know this as budget season, but budget season is really all year round. So, thank you for all your hard work and I look forward to hearing from everyone.

Thank you, Council Member O'Brien. And we'll now hear from District 7 Council Member Anna Hernandez.

Thank you so much, Ed, and thank you so much for the community members um participating here in person and listening online. Um just really excited to hear what our residents uh want to see invested into, what kind of programs they're asking to be invested into. Um I think that this is a great way for the community to really uh share their voice and their vision for how we grow the city of Phoenix. Um, and especially thank you so much to Amber and Erin for and the entire really really uh staff um and the for positioning Phoenix and to such a strong fiscal position. Um, I will say that again I think we're in a really great spot compared to some of our neighboring cities. I know other cities are struggling, but Phoenix is in a strong fiscal position, and that's amazing to see, which means that our residents really benefit from all of that very, very hard work. So, I'm just excited to to learn more and hear more from the community. Phoenix especially Amber Phoenix.

Thank you, council member, and thanks to all of our council members and mayor who are here today. Uh, I also want to join them in thanking the staff who do attend each one of these budget hearings to make sure that they're connected with the community as well. So, thank you to our staff who've come out today uh for this uh for this hearing. At this point, I will turn it over to Deputy City Manager Amber Williamson, who will uh introduce the next part of the hearing.

Thank you, Ed, and thank you to Mayor and City Council members. The feedback we received today is very important. We will finalize the proposed trial budget to present to city council. We want your input to be heard and considered before the budget is approved. The proposed budget will be presented to the city council on May 5th and voted on on May 20th. Information on the proposed budget is available in the tabloid at the main table and is also available in English and Spanish. You can also visit our website for more information at phoenix.gov/budget. If you do wish to speak at today's hearing on the proposed budget, please fill out a form at the kiosk located in the hallway. We will now move to play a short video on the proposed trial budget in English and in Spanish. Immediately following the video, we will move to any speaker comments. Every day in Phoenix, city employees work behind the scenes to keep our community safe, connected, and thriving. The services they deliver, public safety, clean water, libraries, parks, streets, and more, depend on thoughtful year-round planning. That planning begins with the city's annual trial budget. To create the trial budget, the city works year round toward a simple but essential goal, how to best maintain the services residents rely on every day. After determining these costs, any surplus can be used on new programs and services, employee compensation increases, or other council and community priorities. This year, the proposed 2026-27 city manager trial budget shows a projected general fund surplus of 163

million, including 61 million in ongoing revenue and 102 million in one-time resources. After setting aside funds to keep the budget balanced into the future and accounting for needed operational costs, a $70 million surplus remains. This strong financial position allows the city to maintain and enhance essential services while planning responsibly for future needs. A key part of this year's trial budget is setting aside 75 million dedicated to helping balance the 202728 fiscal year, reinforcing Phoenix's commitment to long-term financial stability. By planning ahead, Phoenix continues its long-standing practice of structural budget balance, ensuring public safety, parks, libraries, and community programs remain stable and reliable for residents. This long-term planning also helps Phoenix stay resilient in the face of challenges such as the recent incorporation of Santan Valley, which will reduce Phoenix's share of state shared revenue by more than $10 million next year. However, with our strong surplus and forward-looking planning in place, the 2026-27 trial budget suggests strategic investments that support health, safety, quality of life, and critical services for Phoenix. Throughout the year, departments review what it takes to maintain the programs residents rely on. Each March, the city manager releases a trial budget, a draft that aligns projected resources with anticipated expenses for the coming fiscal year. This year's draft is now available for public review from March 30th through April 16th. Residents are encouraged to share feedback through community budget hearings, online comments, phone calls, and social media. This input is important to the city council, and they want to hear from you. After reviewing community feedback, the city council

votes on the budget in May. Final adoption occurs in June, followed by the annual property tax levy ordinance in early July. Now, let's talk about what funds the annual budget. The general fund supports many of the services residents use every day, including parks, libraries, police, fire, youth, and senior programs. It is primarily funded through local sales taxes, state shared revenues, primary property tax, and user fees and other revenues. Enterprise funds operate like standalone service providers. Water Services, Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, and Solid Waste are funded by customers who directly use these services. Special revenue funds are dedicated to specific purposes, often supported by grants or voter approved sale taxes, and help enhance parks, transportation, and public safety. The city budget has several priorities, including balancing the budget, which is required by state law and city charter. continuing to provide the programs and services residents rely on and recommending how to use any potential surplus to benefit the community. Now to the 202627 trial budget, which continues Phoenix's work to enhance community safety. This includes lighting improvements in city parks to increase visibility and discourage crime and 17 new street lights and 24 upgrades along the 27th Avenue corridor supporting the community plans for safer streets and neighborhood revitalization. Meanwhile, staffing and maintenance funding will support new facilities such as the planned Lone Mountain Park and the 2023 Go Bond funded Estabbon Park Recreation Center. To support Phoenix families, the budget includes a $5 million set aside to help address child care affordability for Phoenix families. Teen programming will expand across multiple community centers. Additional

assistance at family service centers will support Phoenix residents experiencing financial challenges and a dedicated parking lease at Choya Library will maintain access during nearby redevelopment. Housing stability remains a major focus. Key investments will help replace expiring COVID era federal funding to continue vital services, including $12.9 million for emergency shelters servicing residents citywide. 1.5 million for the city's 247 heat relief site and extended hour schooling centers. 1.5 million for the Keys to Change shelter facility. $2.5 million to create a master lease program with more than 50 housing units for individuals exiting homelessness and $6.6 million for the housing trust fund supporting fee waivers, pre-approved housing plans, and other affordable housing efforts. These investments provide both immediate support and long-term housing solutions. To enhance in-person service at city hall, the budget funds improvements to the planning and development customer services area, including streamlined check-in, clearer signage, improved visitor flow and technology upgrades to strengthen system reliability and reduce long-term contracting costs. The budget converts key temporary IT and engineering positions into ongoing roles, including cyber security specialists and network technicians. Aviation upgrades include new technology enhancements, water quality and safety staffing, and expanded support for international travel operations at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport. The budget uses existing resources to convert a number of critical temporary positions to ongoing roles, strengthening internal capacity across departments. And a $53 million

employee compensation set aside helps Phoenix remain competitive in hiring and retaining skilled staff who deliver essential public services. With careful planning, responsible budgeting, and strong community involvement, Phoenix continues to deliver highquality services while preparing for the future. Your participation helps shape the path forward. Together, we're building a more sustainable, resilient, and welcoming Phoenix for the years ahead. Aquaasific. for conclude. Foreist

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Okay, we will now move on to resident comments. Once you're in approach the microphone, before we begin with our resident comment, we want to have a reminder to the audience that we do have interpretation services available for Spanish language from LC today. We'll move to public comment.

Miss Elise Hammonds. Hi. Um, I'm in district 7 with Councilwoman Hernandez and um, I'm a part of a budget work group where we've been talking about the budget. And so, um, I'm still working to understand it all, but, uh, one comment question that I have is, um, under the human services department, um, I think it would be good to add under the client supports um, resources for working families who typically don't meet the emergency standard. um but are sacrificing, you know, with the rising cost of inflation and healthc care in particular. Um so I'm not sure what that would look like, but um support for families who are not necessarily con, you know, 136% below the federal poverty limit and are working every day but still just not able to make ends meet. I think there should be some place in the budget during these times um for those families. And then I did see some areas of the budget that were really concerning. Um a Z budget for the Office of Arts and Culture and a Z budget for the Office of Public Works. Um, so I'm not sure if I I understand that right, but um, but those were my comments.

Thank you for that. I'll ask uh our budget director to explain that. We don't have a Z budget for them, but I understand why it's confusing the way it is in the um in the uh tabloid. So I'll ask Aaron to explain what that is uh representing. Yeah, Elise, thanks for that question. And so the items you see here, for example, in in arts and culture, we have positions that are being converted to ongoing. They used to be temporary. It shows zero dollars because we've already identified the funding for those positions. So they're already in arts and cultures budget. The same thing in public works as well. So overall, that department has has its own budget for sure, but the items you see here, we've essentially already covered the cost on. Yeah. Thank you. That's a good question.

All right. If there are are there any other cards or anyone online? Yes. Go ahead. We have one virtual speaker, Miss Alicia Dunn. Miss Dunn is not online. Okay. Believe that represents all the cards. Is there anyone here who didn't have a chance to fill out a card who would like to address the the council and the management? All right. Seeing none, um I will uh bring this to a conclusion and I will um ask our mayor and council members if they would like to have any concluding comments. We will uh start again with Mayor Ggo.

Thank you all for joining us and thanks for team Phoenix for coming in today. Thank you, Mayor online. Uh, Council Member Stark, I want to thank everyone that spoke today and I especially want to thank staff for coming in on a Saturday. Thanks. Thank you, Council Member Pastor. Yes, I want to thank staff for doing what they have to uh what they do for their commitment to our community. One question, Erin, on the zero budget. It's because the the budgets within the department found money. It's not additional money. Is that correct? Yes, Councilwoman Pastor. That's exactly right.

Okay. I think we just needed to clear that up, but thank you. Thank you, Vice Mayor. I will turn it over to you with your members here in in chambers to conclude with your colleagues.

Thank you so much. Um, I want to start off again by thanking staff, specifically our budget and research department. Um, you guys have consistently provided projections that continue to give us the financial acument necessary to move forward and continue to be good financial stewards of our city. So, I want to say thank you. Um, it's not always a role that we get the opportunity to highlight. Um, we only highlight budget normally when things are in a not a positive area. So, I want I always want to take the opportunity to say thank you for the good work that you guys do. Um, as we see a lot of volatility throughout the country, I am very happy to see that we don't have those situations here in the city of Phoenix. Um, I am very proud of this budget. Uh, specifically, not only are we continuing resources and meeting the needs of our community in the future, but we are also investing in our staff, which is the our biggest asset as a city, and we are providing the finances to do that as well as also thinking about the future. um the set aside is to ensure that we are continuing to have the continuity of service that our residents come to expect from us. So, I just wanted to say thank you specifically for all of your hard work in this. I want to say thank you to the member of the community. Thank you for taking the time on a Saturday to come and talk to us and explain and and this is what community engagement looks like. This is why we do these budget hearings because we understand this, but we want to make sure the community understands what we're doing as well. And I just want to take a moment or two um to specifically talk about one of the areas in our proposed trial budget that I am very proud of. Um one of my priorities has and continues to be affordability for our residents, especially when it comes to housing. Um so I just want to take a quick moment to highlight for those that may be watching the inclusion of the master leasing pilot in our trial budget and why this matters to the city of Phoenix. Um, master leasing is a practical, immediate tool that allows a city or a nonprofit partner to lease units directly from landlords and then subleasase those

units to residents who would otherwise be locked out of the housing market. It removes barriers like credit challenges, prior evictions, or income stability while also giving landlords the certainty of a guaranteed lease. What makes this approach so important is speed. We all know that building new affordable housing is critical, but it takes some time. Master leasing allows us to activate units that already exist today and get people housed much faster. This is especially important for residents who are on the brink of homelessness or trying to transition out of it. Without intervention, many of these individuals and families will continue to cycle through shelters or emergency systems. This model gives us Phoenix a way to stabilize people now, not years from now. I've been advocating for us to expand our housing toolbox because there is no single solution to this crisis. Master leasing is one of those tools that helps fill in a very real gap between available units and residents who cannot access them on their own. Including this as a pilot in our budget is a smart and responsible step. It allows us to test the model, measure outcomes, and understand the cost effectiveness before scaling it. If successful, this will become a key strategy in how we reduce homelessness, support h support working families, and better utilize our existing housing supply. I want to say thank you to both our housing department and the office of homeless solutions for bringing this forward and I look forward to seeing how this pilot performs and how we continue building on solutions that deliver real results for our residents. So, I just want to again say thank you to everyone for coming out on this Saturday and for participating in the community budget hearings. Um, thank you.

Thank you, Vice Mayor, Council Member O'Brien. Thank you so much, Ed, and thank you, Miss Hammonds, for coming out. It is good to hear that there are community members out there getting around the budget and talking about it and then coming here to provide feedback. So, very much appreciate your your time and effort. We all have so much to do already, so for you to take time out of your um schedule to come here and share with us and to work with your community members is really an honor for us. Thank you. And thank you again to all of staff who have come here on a Saturday. Um I know that this is a lot of work and and it's not just budget all year round for Aaron. I think it kind of is budget all year round for many members in in our departments to make sure that they're staying on budget and and how they have to impact their budgets in in future years. So that's hard work. So thank you to all the departments who who do that. Um, I couldn't be more proud of, like I said, the city manager and all the departments. You keep giving us great advice and you keep us on on track um for to deliver the great service we do for the city of Phoenix. So, thank you so much for that.

Thank you, Councilwoman Councilman Hernandez.

Thank you so much. Um yeah, I just want to really echo the thanks um to the community for participating throughout this process, especially one of our residents that took some precious time out on the Saturday morning uh to come and advocate and just share qu and ask really good questions, right? And I'm so proud of the budget work we're doing in our in district 7. um because this is one of the tools that we have to really uh share with the community and make the budget more accessible, make the process itself more understandable and digestible to the community. Um so really proud that I'm finding I have residents that will nerd out over the budget with me and my team. So it's actually pretty exciting. Um so thank you so much for coming and joining us. Um, you know, I also want to take a moment, you know, I've already said my thanks so many times and but to really see such a strong trial budget, um, as someone that has followed the Phoenix budget for years before I got on the council, um, this is probably one of the strongest trial budgets that I can recall in recent history. So, I think that just goes to the testament that you are all really uh, listening to what the needs are throughout the year, right? because it's like this process really is year-long and to see some amazing things. I just want to take a moment to highlight a couple um you know the 1.5 million set aside in client services for the flexible funding. I will echo my constituents concerns like we have I would like to see more investment in that. Um especially in a time when we do have uh a a number of our of our residents that don't make enough to get extra help but still need that extra help. So, especially under this Trump administration, I think it is going to be so critical for us as a city to really be leaders and invest into the things that are going to get our

residents um you know by day by day um with all the needs that they have. Uh housing, I will echo vice mayor like housing and homelessness has been top of mind for our office. So to see such a strong investment in the uh specifically the housing I'll mention the housing trust fund um that really positions the city of Phoenix to be in a position to be really good partners in how we tackle this. Uh yesterday I actually drove down to Tucson for a ribbon cutting of a project uh that was you uh was really built with a lot of partnerships. Um and it was it's 64 units that was built on church land. So it's a yes in one of the first yes in God's backyards project in the state of Arizona using the lowincome housing tax credit and that program really opened the door for more housing but it really relied on partnership from the city of Tucson to really invest and so this is what it means to be creative and such a strong investment into our housing trust fund um is what positions Phoenix to also be that type of leader on housing solutions. So, I'm really excited to see that type of investment and echo the thanks to our housing department, to our office of homeless solutions because it the housing trust fund is not the only investment in this trial budget into housing overall. Um, there are multiple things, but I just wanted to really shout out the housing trust fund because that really gives us a lot of it's such a good tool that we are going to need in how we deliver creative and innovative housing solutions to our residents. Um, and then the last one I really just want to highlight is the five million set aside for child care. Uh, I think I've shared it in public meetings at some point or I don't know where I've shared it, but when I learned that child care costs can take anywhere from 12 to 30% of a family's monthly income, um, that's kind of blew my mind. So to see the city of

Phoenix, I know that this is something that is a priority to the mayor and really all of us, but to see that investment is huge and how we really tackle the affordability overall for our residents. Um, so for me, like I've said it before, I'll say it again, the budget is a moral document for us and I think this trial budget shows that we are finding solutions that are going to make to make those investments that are going to get to the root cause of the issues that our residents face. So really, thank you so much, Ed, Amber, Erin, the entire budget team. I know it's not a sexy job, but this is what is going to help us improve the conditions in our communities. And so for that, thank you so much for that work that you do all year round to put Phoenix at into such a strong physical position um to be delivering for our residents. So um thank you so much for that. to the entire staff that is here and has showed up through all the budget hearings thus far. Um, thank you so much for being out there in the community. Um, you know, my fellow council members. Um, you know, this is I don't know if they nerd out on this like I do, but I like being here with them. So, uh, I could talk about the budget all day, but thanks again for all the hard work. Um, and but especially thank you to the community that has showed up um through all the budget hearings and especially today. So, thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you so much, mayor, vice mayor, council members. On behalf of the staff, we appreciate the investment of time you made today and throughout this entire 12 uh budget uh hearing series. We do have more hearings next week starting on Monday, April, whatever day that is, the 13th, I believe, uh and uh through through next week. So, we invite people to look at that. And again, thank you for your time investment. Thank you to our staff. I would be remiss if I didn't recognize the hard work of my predecessor Jeff Barton who left the city in this tremendous financial state

under the leadership of the mayor and the council. So with that, we hope everyone has a great Saturday. Tiger Mountain Foundation folks who have a raised bed. uh Lear with the Lear system and then NXT Horizon.