A plain-language look at Avondale's adopted budget for
July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2027.
Budget at a glance
Avondale adopted a $514.3 million FY2027 budget
The Avondale City Council adopted the FY2026-27 budget on
June 1, 2026. The budget took effect July 1, 2026.
Adopted budget$514.3MBudgeted expenditures and expenses
Capital improvements$204.8MAbout 40% of the total budget
Projected revenue$296.5MExcludes transfers between City funds
Property-tax rate1.4592Combined City rate per $100 assessed value
The $514.3 million budget is not $514.3 million in taxes
Avondale's budget includes sales taxes, state-shared revenue,
property taxes, utility fees, development fees, grants,
bond proceeds, accumulated fund balances and other resources.
Transfers between City funds can also appear in multiple accounting
schedules. They should not be treated as new money each time they move
from one fund to another.
What changed from FY2026?
The adopted budget increased by about $27.7 million
Avondale's FY2027 adopted budget totaled $514.3045 million,
compared with $486.6145 million in FY2026. That is an increase
of approximately $27.7 million, or 5.7%.
Measure
FY2026
FY2027
Change
Adopted budget
$486.6M
$514.3M
+$27.7M (+5.7%)
Capital Improvement Plan
$204.2M
$204.8M
About +$0.6M (+0.3%)
Projected revenue
$275.9M
$296.5M
+$20.6M (+7.5%)
Combined City property-tax rate
1.4592
1.4592
No change
The total budget grew much more than the capital plan
The City's comparable Capital Improvement Plan totals were
approximately $204.2 million in FY2026 and $204.8 million in
FY2027, while projected annual revenue increased by about
$20.6 million.
Avondale's total adopted budget also includes accumulated fund
balances, project carryover, transfers, debt proceeds and other
financial resources. A change in the total budget should therefore
not be interpreted as an equivalent increase in taxes or
current-year revenue.
The ALPR program moved from earlier technology funding to a large documented expansion
FY2026 budget records identified several Police technology items,
including vehicle GPS, mobile dispatch computers, investigative
phone software and Police asset-replacement funding.
In FY2027, Avondale budget materials identify
$239,000 in ongoing State RICO funding for
58 additional license plate reader cameras.
The City reported 15 existing cameras and described the objective
of the expansion as providing city wide coverage.
If all 58 funded cameras are deployed in addition to the
15 existing cameras identified by the City, the system could
reach 73 cameras.
FY2027 also includes separate Police technology requests,
including $120,000 for the Public Safety Drone Program and
$103,000 for Police Data Sharing.
These are budget and appropriation records. They do not by
themselves prove that every funded camera or technology item
was purchased, installed, activated or deployed.
Where the money goes
FY2027 spending by major purpose
Avondale groups the adopted budget into eight broad spending areas.
Capital improvements are the largest portion.
Capital improvements$204.8M · 40%
Infrastructure, facilities, utilities, parks,
transportation and other long-term projects.
General government$85.1M · 17%
Public safety$82.2M · 16%
Includes police, fire and medical services and related
public-safety costs.
Utilities$45.9M · 9%
Contingency$36.8M · 7%
Community services$23.2M · 5%
Debt$20.9M · 4%
Community & economic development$14.8M · 3%
A large part of the capital budget is carryover
Approximately $112.6 million of the $205.5 million capital budget
consists of projects carried forward from FY2026.
Carryover means funding approved in an earlier budget remains
available while a project continues.
Budget by fund
Another way to look at the $514.3 million
Fund group
FY2027 budget
General Fund
$185,686,300
Enterprise Funds
$166,191,600
Special Revenue Funds
$93,414,900
Internal Service Funds
$31,351,700
Capital Projects Funds
$28,308,000
Debt Service Funds
$9,352,000
Total
$514,304,500
Enterprise Funds include water, sewer and solid-waste operations.
These services have dedicated revenue sources such as utility charges.
Where the money comes from
FY2027 budgeted revenue
Avondale identifies approximately
$296.7 million in budgeted revenue,
excluding transfers between City funds.
$123.9MCharges, services, licenses & fines
Includes utility revenue, permits, development fees
and other service-related revenue.
$87.8MLocal sales tax
$49.9MState-shared revenue
$15.6MOther governments
$11.4MProperty tax
$8.1MInvestments, leases & miscellaneous
Why is annual revenue lower than the spending budget?
A significant portion of the difference comes from one-time
capital projects using accumulated fund balances, bond proceeds
and other resources already available to the City.
Property taxes
The combined City property-tax rate did not increase
Avondale's FY2027 combined City property-tax rate remains
1.4592 per $100 of assessed valuation.
City property tax
FY2026
FY2027
Primary rate
0.6095
0.5813
Secondary rate
0.8497
0.8779
Total City rate
1.4592
1.4592
Primary levy$4.53M
Secondary levy$6.84M
Total City levy$11.36M
A tax rate remaining unchanged does not necessarily mean every
property's tax bill remains unchanged. Assessed value and taxes
from other jurisdictions also affect the final bill.
Capital projects
About $204.8 million in FY2027 project funding
Avondale's adopted Capital Improvement Plan identifies
$204.783 million in FY2027 project funding.
The plan also identifies approximately
$112.991 million in carryover from projects
already underway or previously budgeted.
Carryover is not a new FY2027 spending decision
Carryover represents funding associated with projects that began
in an earlier budget year and continue into FY2027. It helps explain
why the amount of capital activity can be much larger than the
amount assigned as new FY2027 project funding.
FY2027 capital funding by project type
Utilities$108.531M
Transportation$42.507M
Asset replacement$24.591M
Parks & recreation$19.040M
Public safety$7.409M
General government$2.566M
BLVD projects$139K
Major FY2027 projects
The City's capital plan contains many more individual projects than
are shown here. These are selected projects that are either among the
larger FY2027 allocations or may be especially recognizable to
residents. For the complete Capital Improvement Program,
see the City's FY2027 budget documents.
W
Water & sewer
Utility infrastructure
Water Reclamation Facility Phase II ExpansionExpansion of wastewater treatment capacity.
$55.383M
PFAS Treatment Facility: Land & DesignPlanning, land and design for PFAS treatment infrastructure.
$15.851M
Holly Acres Water System Improvements
$7.487M
10th Street Lift Station Rehabilitation
$4.158M
New Well #25
$2.861M
Dysart Road Sewer ReplacementCorral Street to Lower Buckeye Road.
$2.550M
R
Roads & transportation
Streets, intersections and mobility
Old Town Avondale Phase IV Improvements
$9.080M
Pavement Management Program FY2027Street preservation and pavement work.
$5.270M
Old Town Avondale Phase VI Improvements
$4.787M
Old Town Avondale Phase V Improvements
$4.523M
Dysart Road / McDowell Road Intersection
$3.289M
El Mirage Road Widening & ImprovementsCalle Hermosa to Illini.
$800K
P
Parks & recreation
Parks, trails and neighborhood amenities
Donatela Park
$5.363M
Agua Fria Pedestrian Bridge to Friendship Park
$2.182M
Festival Fields Disc Golf & Trailhead
$1.922M
Trail Improvements in the BLVD Area
$1.343M
Friendship Park Playground Replacement
$1.100M
Festival Fields Park Shade Expansion
$900K
S
Public safety
Fire, police and public-safety facilities
Fire Station #171 Replacement
$1.803M
Training Tower
$1.708M
City Court Expansion Phase 2Training and conference room expansion.
$1.246M
Southern Avondale Fire / Police StationFY2027 funding for a larger multi-year public-safety project.
$998K
A
Asset replacement
Vehicles, technology and existing assets
Vehicle Replacement FY2027
$5.543M
Communication Systems & Data Center Replacement
$1.166M
Streets Asset Replacement FY2027
$1.043M
Water Meter Replacement FY2027
$625K
Computer & Equipment Replacement FY2027
$514K
Police Asset Replacement FY2027
$212K
These are budgeted project amounts, not proof of actual spending
A project appearing in the FY2027 Capital Improvement Plan means
funding was budgeted or carried forward for that project. It does
not establish that the entire amount was spent during FY2027,
that every contract was awarded, or that the project was completed.
Police technology & supplemental requests
Individual Police programs identified in the FY2027 budget
Broad categories such as Public Safety can hide individual programs
and technology purchases. These are specific Police supplemental
requests identified in the FY2027 budget materials.
Police item
Ongoing
One-time
Total
Annual RICO spending authorityState, County and Federal RICO funds
—
$800,000
$800,000
58 License Plate Reader CamerasProgram expansion
$239,000
—
$239,000
Public Safety Drone Program
—
$120,000
$120,000
Police Data Sharing
$75,000
$28,000
$103,000
Officer Safety Bundles
$48,000
—
$48,000
CAD Mobile App
$12,000
$31,500
$43,500
Body-camera redaction software
$25,000
—
$25,000
Police supplemental requests shown above
$399,000
$979,500
$1,378,500
Automated license plate readers
$239,000 ongoing for 58 additional cameras
Avondale reported that the Police Department already operated
15 license plate reader cameras and requested 58 additional cameras.
The City's budget describes the purpose of the expansion as
providing city wide coverage.
If all 58 funded cameras are deployed in addition to the existing
15 cameras, the system could reach 73 cameras.
Funding
$239,000 ongoing
Fund
State RICO
Existing cameras stated by City
15
Additional cameras funded
58
The budget establishes spending authority. It does not by itself
prove that all 58 cameras have been purchased, installed or deployed.
The request includes $75,000 in ongoing funding and
$28,000 in one-time funding.
Avondale describes the program as a nationwide data-integration
platform intended to make law-enforcement records searchable
across participating agencies.
Police drones
$120,000 for the Public Safety Drone Program
The budget materials discuss Drone as First Responder technology,
including drones housed in remote docking stations.
Avondale also stated that its existing Police drone program
consisted of 16 drones when the request was prepared.
How to read this page
Budgeted does not necessarily mean spent
An adopted budget authorizes spending. It does not necessarily
mean the entire amount was ultimately spent.
A budget entry also does not prove that equipment was purchased,
a vendor contract was signed, or a project was completed.
Contracts, purchase orders, invoices and audited actual
expenditures provide additional evidence about what happened
after funding was approved.
Verify it yourself
Primary sources
These City of Avondale documents are the primary sources for this page.