Housing market crazy / p. 6
An edition of the East Valley Tribune
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Sunday, May 21, 2023
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QC Council signs off on new spending plan
Inside
This Week
BY MARK MORAN Tribune Staff Writer
NEWS ...................... 8
QC hair salon beat out 1,900 stores for a top award.
NEWS ..................... 10
W
ith no comment from the public, Town Council put its final stamp of approval on Queen Creek’s record budget for the coming fiscal year. The $867.1 million spending plan approved May 17 is the largest in town history. “This is arguably the largest and single most important policy decision that we do as a governing body and legally the one thing that we
are required to do,” Mayor Julia Wheatley said. “We are saying ‘this is what we are focusing on and these are our priorities for this year.’ “The budget continues to prioritize public safety and infrastructure, which is so important for our growing town. It also invests in quality of life through the Recreation & Aquatic Center, parks, and trails,” she continued. A fifth of the budget, or $168-million, is earmarked to purchase water rights as the town continues to grow. Queen Creek’s total budget last year was just
Sweet!
A new casino will be beckoning QC gamblers in another month.
over $730 million and of the $137 million increase in the coming year’s budget, $108 million is earmarked to buy water rights. A whopping $214.3-million is slated for infrastructure, which includes roads, bridges, and buildings essential to supporting the town’s rapid expansion. Finance Director Scott McCarty said the spending plan but also looks well down the road, based on current revenue and expense
see COUNCIL page 3
Coolidge beat QC in percentage growth last year BY HOWARD FISCHER Capitol Media Services
Q
BUSINESS .............. 15
East Valley stone cutter has no heart of stone.
COMMUNITY .............. 12 BUSINESS .................. 15 OPINION .................... 17 SPORTS ..................... 19 CLASSIFIEDS ............. 22
Casteel junior outfielder Tyler Russell revs up an already wild crowd of fans after the team captured the 5A state baseball championship May 16. For the story, see page 19. (David Minton/Tribune Staff Photographer)
CAC’s SanTan TanCampus CampusServes Servesthe theCommunities Communities CAC’s San Creek & & San SanTan Tan Valley. Valley. of Queen Creek Summer Classes Starting in May, June & July. Summer Classes Starting July. REGISTRATION OPEN REGISTRATION OPENNOW! NOW!
ueen Creek and Maricopa grew faster in the past year measured than any other community in Arizona, U.S. Census Bureau data released last Thursday showed – but that doesn’t tell the whole story. The bureau’s new figures also put Queen Creek and Maricopa among the top 15 nationwide for population increases between July 1, 2021, and July 1, 2022. But the agency, in crafting its rankings, only ranks what it considers “large cities” – mean-
see POPULATION page 5 SCAN TO FIND YOUR PATH
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