Town of Fountain Hills Finance Director Paul Soldinger went into a public open house session March 12 and presented a budget plan for the 2026 fiscal year that reflects a slow-down in revenues but also highlights more than $10 million planned for street improvements in town.
Soldinger is projecting $26 million in General Fund revenues, which is only a slight increase over estimates for the conclusion of the current fiscal year. Those revenues come primarily from local sales taxes ($15 million) and shared state sales taxes ($3.7 million). The remainder of the revenue for the General Fund comes from licenses, permits, leases and rents ($1.3 million), charges for services ($260,000), fines and forfeitures ($210,000), investment earnings ($349,000) and other revenue ($600,000). A share of state income taxes is included ($4.6 million, a slight decline from last year).
Staff have also presented the council with a proposal for $10.4 million in street repair and replacement projects for the 2026 fiscal year. That includes $5 million from the Street Fund for the routine maintenance and improvements such as sealing and mill and overlay projects. Staff have chosen to propose a $5.4 million project for the reconstruction of Palomino Boulevard. That project will be included in the capital improvement program and is expected to be a two-year project, which would split the funding over two fiscal years.
