Funding for stand-alone court to span two years

The new stand-alone Municipal Court building approved by City Council in September will be funded from two budget years: this year and next.

There is $2 million budgeted for this fiscal year to cover preliminary costs, such as design and construction of infrastructure, site improvements and building foundation, according to city spokesman Quinn Konold.

“The remainder of the project, including the construction of the building, furniture, fixtures, technology, audio/visual equipment, cameras, access control, security equipment etc., is recommended to be funded out of the fiscal year 2024 budget,” Konold said. “Staff will submit a budget request for the remaining funds necessary for the completion of the facility with the fiscal year 2024 Capital Improvement Projects budget requests.”

Konold added the city expects the project be completed by winter or spring of 2024.

The permanent court will have a construction budget of approximately $2.7 million, Assistant City Manager Jennifer Brown said at the council meeting when the facility was approved.

City Manager Rick Horst said those costs will be repaid to the city through development impact fees.

“I want to make it very clear that will be paid by new development, not existing taxpayers,” Horst said. “It will be 100 percent based on new development coming here. With those growth needs, they should be paid by the people causing the growth and not the people who are already here.”

Having a stand-alone Municipal Court building will allow the city to take its cases out of the Pinal County courts building, where it has shared space with Pinal Justice Court since Maricopa’s incorporation in 2003.

The project will be developed in two phases. The first will create an interim facility that will operate in City Council chambers; the second will be construction of the permanent facility east of city hall and north of the current police building. Brown said the city’s target for a functioning interim court is early 2023.

“We are growing up,” Brown said when the building was approved. “We’re maturing as a city and that means we take over new things and we have new processes evolving as a community.”