Child abuse: ticking pandemic bomb? / P. 6
An edition of the East Valley Tribune
INSIDE
This Week
NEWS............................. 17 Pandemic demolishes wedding industry.
BUSINESS ............... 23 Scottsdale gyms struggle under closures.
FOOD ............................25 Booze sales soar as patrons stay at home.
NEIGHBORS .........................................20 BUSINESS .............................................. 23 FOOD ........................................................25 CLASSIFIEDS ........................................27
Arizona sees $1B de�icit coming / P. 10
FREE ($1 OUTSIDE OF SCOTTSDALE) | scottsdale.org
Sunday, April 19, 2020
Pandemic complicates city bond picture BY WAYNE SCHUTSKY Progress Managing Editor
A
s Scottsdale city leaders grapple with the financial implications of the coronavirus crisis, they also are weighing whether or not to delay infrastructure projects connected to the $319-million bond approved by voters last November.
Scottsdale in dark on federal virus relief aid
The city has already approved some smaller bond projects – including some needed fire department expenditures – but was planning to spend the bulk of bond proceeds over the next five years. But during a hearing on next year’s city budget, Councilman Guy Phillips suggested delaying bond projects amid the economic uncertainty created by the Covid-19 pandemic.
An early draft of the city’s next budget presented to City Council on April 7 showed it allocating $241.5 million from the 2019 bond between 2020 and 2025 – including about $36 million over the next 12 to 18 months to fund portions of 30 projects.
see BOND page 16
BY WAYNE SCHUTSKY Progress Managing Editor
T
he $2-trillion CARES Act emergency package included an estimated $2.8 billion in relief funding for Arizona and its local governments, but it is still unclear how much of those funds will make their way to Scottsdale and other mid-size cities throughout the state. According to the Arizona Legislature’s Joint Legislative Budget Committee, the state will receive at least $1.55 billion from that $2.8-billion pot with the remaining $1.3 billion allocated towards local governments, including cities and counties.
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Scottsdale Councilwoman Solange Whitehead fills bags with food at the Granite Reef Senior Center. Any federal relief that finds its way to the city can't be used to backfill revenue shortfalls but instead must be used for services like this. (Pablo Robles/Progress Staff Photographer)
But the CARES Act only spells out how a state’s largest cities with populations of 500,000 or more qualify for the relief – leaving cities like Scottsdale with an unclear pic-
ture of what type of aid they will receive. “Under the legislation, $139 billion is re-
see CARES ACT page 10
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