← Election Series · Down-ballot coverage · Arizona
Our call — vote YES
The measure
Proposition 418 is on the November 3, 2026 general-election ballot in Avondale. It asks voters to authorize $55,000,000 in general obligation (GO) bonds for public safety projects.
A disclosure note on sourcing, up front: this measure was rostered at compilation grade (an azcentral metro Phoenix measures roundup) in our research inventory, whose notes directed that the article not be written until the City of Avondale pamphlet was pulled. For this article it was: every figure below is from the City of Avondale 2026 General Election Publicity Pamphlet (Maricopa County Elections), which agrees with the compilation on the amount and the project list.
The ballot question, as printed in the pamphlet, states the purpose and amount — "PURPOSE: PUBLIC SAFETY PROJECTS; AMOUNT: $55,000,000" — and asks whether Avondale shall be authorized to issue and sell $55,000,000 of general obligation bonds to design, acquire, construct, reconstruct, and renovate fire station and training facilities and public safety and court facilities, to furnish, equip, and improve them, and to acquire vehicles, equipment, electronic data, voice and communication equipment, and land for fire, public safety, and court purposes.
The pamphlet's project list: a new fire/police substation (in southern Avondale), a new public safety headquarters, a police firearms training facility, main police station expansion, and city court office expansion — projects the city expects to complete over the next 20 years, prioritized by the Council through its Capital Improvement Plan.
The history matters and the pamphlet prints it: Avondale held a GO bond election in 2025 in which the parks and recreation bond passed and the public safety bond failed by only 13 votes. The 2026 program was developed with a resident Citizen Bond Committee formed in 2024, and the Council voted unanimously to place this question on the 2026 ballot. Per the pamphlet, under Arizona law bond proceeds may be used solely for the purposes in the ballot question — not for staff salaries, daily operations, or events.
What YES does
Per the pamphlet: "A 'yes' vote shall authorize the governing body of the City to issue and sell up to $55,000,000 of general obligation bonds of the City to be repaid with secondary property taxes."
What NO does
Per the pamphlet: "A 'no' vote shall not authorize the governing body of the City to issue and sell such bonds of the City."
Per the pamphlet's FAQ, if the measure fails, some public safety projects may face delays, indefinite postponement, or scaling back, and — as older bonds are paid off — property taxes would decrease.
The math
All figures are as printed in the pamphlet's financial information:
- Principal: $55,000,000, maximum interest rate 9%, principal payable not later than 25 years from the issuance of each series.
- Estimated total cost: $90,595,000 including principal and interest — the full repayment figure, printed by the city.
- Issuance: the city estimates six series of bonds sold over 15 years, with issuance costs of $250,000 per series.
- Repayment source: secondary property taxes.
- Estimated average tax rate: $0.2407 per $100 of assessed valuation.
- Estimated homeowner cost: for an owner-occupied residence valued at $250,000, an estimated $72 per year for 28 years — $2,016 total. For commercial property valued at $1,000,000: $429 per year for 28 years, $12,012 total.
- Existing debt: as of July 1, 2026, the city had $62,205,000 of general obligation debt outstanding against its constitutional debt limits; no bonds may be issued that would exceed either limit.
- The honest tension, printed both ways: the ballot text states that issuing these bonds "will result in a property tax increase sufficient to pay the annual debt service on the bonds," and that the bonds are payable from a property tax without limitation as to rate or amount. The city's FAQ simultaneously states the proposal is designed to keep the overall property tax rate stable — new bonds issued as older ones are retired — with combined property taxes for every $100,000 of limited property value expected to remain stable at about $12.16 per month, while noting that projected values and issuance plans are subject to change. Both statements are the city's; voters should hold the second one as an expectation, and the first one as the legal fact.
OUR CALL
Our call: YES.
Fire stations, police facilities, training facilities, and court facilities are durable public assets and a core function of a city — the precise case for voter-approved general obligation debt. And this pamphlet does what we ask every bond pamphlet to do: it prints the full price. The $55 million headline comes with a $90,595,000 estimated total cost including interest, a stated maximum interest rate, a stated average tax rate, a per-home cost carried over the full term, the city's existing debt, and its constitutional limits. Nothing material is hidden, including the uncomfortable parts — the pamphlet itself records that Avondale voters rejected this bond by 13 votes in 2025, and the ballot text itself warns that the bonds are payable without limitation as to rate or amount, even as the city expects the combined rate to hold steady as old debt retires.
The 13-vote history deserves respect rather than a brush-off: the city listened, kept the amount the same, documented the need through a resident bond committee, and asked again in a higher-turnout general election. That is how the mechanism is supposed to work — the voters are the gate, twice if necessary. On disclosed math and a core function, the answer is yes.
Vote YES on Proposition 418.
For the complete Election 2026 breakdown — every race, claim by claim — see the full coverage on our website.
Vote early. Research your candidates. Choose the best moderates, whatever their party — no extremism from either side. And encourage your friends and family to do the same.
Sources
- City of Avondale Publicity Pamphlet, 2026 General Election (Maricopa County Elections) — Proposition 418 ballot text and summary ballot, YES/NO effect language, project list and bond FAQ (including the 2025 election history, the Citizen Bond Committee, the stable-rate expectation, and the restriction of proceeds to the stated purposes), and financial information (total cost, interest cap, issuance, tax rate and impact, outstanding debt) — https://elections.maricopa.gov/asset/jcr:6a617e9f-e616-43bb-82f0-7686234beecd/City%20of%20Avondale%20Publicity%20Pamphlet%202026%20General%20Election.pdf
- azcentral, metro Phoenix measures roundup (September 29, 2026) — the compilation-grade roster source from which this measure was originally enumerated (amount and project list; both confirmed against the city pamphlet above) — https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/metro-phoenix/2026/09/29/phoenix-mesa-scottsdale-peoria-city-council-candidates/91780642007/
Result pending. No verified call (Associated Press or official) as of November 4, 2026. This page will be updated when the race is called or certified. The original article above is unchanged.
AI-assisted article — but the sources are human, and the facts are very real.