Council approves Miller Road assessments after staff explains scope-driven cost increases

The Buckeye City Council voted unanimously to adopt Resolution 30-26 authorizing assessments for street improvements along Miller Road from Lower Buckeye Road to Pima Street, using actual construction costs and allowing assessed amounts to be deferred until development with a 10-year payment window.

Riley Quinlan of the city's capital improvement program told council the project was completed at the end of 2025 and that staff moved from a 2022 "determination of necessity" based on a 60% cost estimate to assessments derived from final construction costs. He said the overall assessment rose roughly 10% versus the 2022 estimate but that some parcels saw larger adjustments once design work identified additional permanent infrastructure to be placed at the time of development.

At public hearing, Samantha DeMoss, representing 8THVG AZ Buckeye, said her parcel's assessment rose 48% and asked the council to withhold final action until line-item details were provided. She said, "we're still not seeing where the extra $220,000 for our specific parcel." Quinlan responded that the increase reflected added scope including water, sewer, a half-street tie-in to Watkins, and drainage infrastructure "added from that 2022 time to today," and said assessments are applied only to permanent qualifying costs.

Council members asked about notice and the communication of the 60% estimate; Quinlan said documents and outreach throughout the process made clear initial estimates were subject to change and that the final assessments used actual costs. One council member asked whether bond dollars funded parts of the project; staff said most of this project's non-assessed portion was funded from general fund dollars because work started before bond funding was available.

The council overruled two objections filed in the hearing record and approved the resolution; the assessment record will be filed and amounts would be removed from parcels once the assessment is paid at the time of development.