New rapid routes / P. 3
'An amazing athlete' / P. 24
An edition of the East Valley Tribune
EV fire districts raising alarm on money woes
INSIDE
This Week
BY SCOTT SHUMAKER Tribune Staff Writer
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NEWS......
The race is on - for three Mesa Council seats.
BUSINESS............
H
ikers, boaters, horseback riders and even BASE jumpers get into dangerous situations in the national forest just outside Mesa and just like in the city, emergency responders rush to the scene to help. While the EMTs who fish people off ledges and shock hearts in the backcountry have the same qualifications as rescuers inside town limits, there’s often a subtle difference: the
words “fire district” rather than “fire department” are emblazoned on their uniforms and vehicles. The distinction between a fire department and fire district is not obvious, but local firefighters say it means a lot for access to resources. Fire districts are special taxing districts formed by voters to add fire and medical service in places where none exists – often in unincorporated communities or smaller cit-
Dancing stars
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Home price spiral expected to continue.
Spice up Easter Brunch with these treats.. COMMUNITY ................................ 14 BUSINESS ...................................... 16 OPINION ....................................... 20 SPORTS.......................................... 24 GET OUT ....................................... 25 CLASSIFIED .................................. 26 1
ies and towns. They are funded by secondary property taxes and governed by local boards of directors. Fire departments, on the other hand, are part of a city or town government, and are funded from city coffers. In recent years, city budgets have benefitted from robust sales tax revenue and generous aid packages connected to the pandemic. Bryan Jeffries, president of the Professional
see FIREFIGHTER page 4
City wants to ‘sustain quality services’ as its costs are rising BY SCOTT SHUMAKER Tribune Staff Writer
GETOUT ............... 25
Zone
Sunday, April 10, 2022
FREE ($1 OUTSIDE THE EAST VALLEY) | TheMesaTribune.com
Mesa residents Shamus McKoy and his daughter Saeda, 12, will be dancing into your living room Friday, April 15, if you turn on Channel 5 at 8 p.m. for the two-hour debut of a new CBS weekly series, “Come Dance with Me.” You can read how they filmed the dance competition half way around the world on page 14. (David Minton/Tribune Staff Photographer)
A
s college basketball’s March Madness was coming down to the Final Four last month, Mesa city officials were just warming up for what they call “April Madness,” a month-long series of discussions and presentations between Council and various departments in preparation for adoption of a new budget and five-year capital improvement plan for the fiscal year beginning July 1. Mesa’s budget planning is no small feat. City staff are mapping out how to spend over half-a-billion dollars. The city currently projects collecting $575 million in revenue next year while spending $567 million. A tentative adoption of next year’s budget is scheduled for May 16 while final approval is planned
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see BUDGET page 6