Queen Creek’s red-hot building streak is cooling, and the town’s budget planners are finally acting like it. The latest spending plan trims near-term growth expectations, tightens revenue forecasts, and pushes staff to zero in on bare-necessity projects like roads, pipes, and police. With the town shifting out of turbo-growth mode, this week’s council review carries extra weight for everyone from longtime homeowners to big-ticket developers.
Town Manager Bruce Gardner’s recommended budget for fiscal year 2026-27 clocks in at $840.6 million in total spending, with an estimated $1.77 billion in total revenue across all funds, according to the Queen Creek Tribune. Deputy Town Manager and CFO Scott McCarty told the council that growth is still on the horizon, just not at the double-digit clip the town has gotten used to. Staff has dialed back assumptions from roughly 10% a year to closer to 6%, setting the tone for the public review process that leads into the council’s next budget vote.
Harquahala Purchase and the Debt Plan
One of the town’s biggest near-term financial moves is securing more water from the Harquahala Valley. To help pay for that deal, Queen Creek sold Certificates of Participation in January, a financing tool town officials say was well received by the market and rated favorably by agencies. Independent reporting pegs the core purchase at about $244 million for 12,000 acre-feet of water per year that the council signed off on, while town leaders have stressed that the COP structure is designed to stretch those costs over time instead of hitting the budget all at once. (Town of Queen Creek, Circle of Blue)
Permits, Police HQ and Projections
Behind the cautious tone is a clear signal from the building charts. Staff reports show permit activity has cooled: so far this fiscal year, the town has logged about 1,606 residential permits, split into roughly 890 single-family and 716 multifamily units. The recommended budget slashes next year’s permit projections, a move that ripples through the capital plan by nudging some project timelines further out. Even so, a new police headquarters is still parked in the five-year capital program with a hefty construction estimate attached in staff documents. Those revised permit assumptions, and the timing adjustments that come with them, are a big part of why the revenue outlook has been toned down, according to the Queen Creek Tribune.
What the Numbers Mean for Residents
One headline for homeowners: the town’s multi-year property-tax freeze is still intact. Fiscal year 2026-27 is slated to be the fourth year of a five-year freeze, so most existing property owners should not see primary property-tax hikes tied to rising assessed values. Town budget documents show that non-construction sales taxes and other operating revenues remain the main sources of day-to-day spending flexibility, while construction-related dollars play a smaller role in the near term. Combined with scheduled debt payments for water and public-safety projects, that mix explains why more than half of the planned spending is pointed at infrastructure, public safety, and water resources. (Town budget materials)…