Maricopa County mailing Scottsdale’s Nov. 5 Special Election ballots Wednesday
The Nov. 5 Special Election will be Scottsdale’s first election conducted completely via mail. This means that every registered voter will be sent a ballot and prepaid postage return envelope—and that no polling places will be provided.
Maricopa County will begin mailing ballots Wednesday Oct. 9. It can take up to a week for the post office to process that much mail. If you do not have your ballot by Thursday, Oct. 17, contact Maricopa County Elections at 602-506-1511 or 602-506-2348 (TDD).
For your ballot to be valid and counted, it must be received at the Maricopa County Elections Center by 7 p.m. on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 5. Postmarks do not count!
As a registered voter in Scottsdale, all you will need to do is vote your ballot, seal and sign the envelope, and drop it in the mail. It’s an election made easy!
About the Special Election
Earlier this year, the Scottsdale City Council unanimously agreed to seek voter approval to issue bonds for 58 community projects totaling up to $319 million. The City Council set the bond program at $319 million after confirming that the bonds can be issued in stages as existing bonds are paid off in order to keep the city’s secondary property taxes at or below current levels.
Bonds are debt obligations issued by cities to finance major capital projects. They are similar to your home mortgage, through which you finance a large purchase over time. Individuals, insurance companies, pension plans and other investors purchase the bonds, providing the city with money to pay for capital projects.
For general obligation bonds like these, the city levies property taxes to repay them. Arizona law requires voter approval before issuing general obligation bonds to finance new capital projects.
The financial impact of the bond election will vary from resident to resident based on property values and the number of bond projects financed. The estimated average annual tax rate for the proposed bond authorization is $0.2877 per $100 of limited assessed valuation used for secondary property tax purposes.
According to the Maricopa County Assessor, the 2020 estimated median single-family home value in Scottsdale is $375,000, the assessed value of which is $37,500. If all the bonds on the ballot are approved, the estimated property tax impact for that homeowner based on the assessed value would be $107.89 per year ($8.99 per month).
The Scottsdale bond questions on the ballot are:
• Question 1: Parks, Recreation and Senior Services
14 Projects – up to $112.6 million
• Question 2: Community Spaces and Infrastructure
20 Projects – up to $112.3 million
• Question 3: Public Safety and Technology
24 Projects – up to $94.1 million
Find detailed official election information at: Scottsdale.Vote
A new city election website makes information easier to find – and the site itself is easy to find too – just visit Scottsdale.Vote. That web address points to the city of Scottsdale’s official election information page, which has been rebuilt with a cleaner, simpler format that is also responsive for cell phones and tablets.