The Chandler Arizonan 05-15-22

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I-10 WIDENING GETS BOOST

CHANDLER BASEBALL PLAYOFF RUN

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Chandler Council OKs utility rate hikes BY KEN SAIN Arizonan Staff Writer

GRADUATION SECTION ......................22

May 15, 2022

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handler’s City Council is moving ahead with raising utility rates starting July 1. That decision is not sitting well with the city’s business community – or one council member. Chamber of Commerce Chairman Rick Heumann spoke during an April 28 public hearing to ask Council to postpone the effective date of the rate increases until Jan. 1. “People’s budgets are done – they’ve been done for many months,” said Heumann,

who is a former member of Council and currently chairs the city Planning and Zoning Commission. “Possibly 45 days from now you’re going to have a major rate increase for our businesses and HOAs.” Heumann said since businesses and homeowner associations make their annual budgets for the calendar year, delaying until Jan. 1 made sense to give them time to plan ahead – especially as most of them are already dealing with higher prices because of in�lation. Councilmember Rene Lopez said he was sympathetic, but that delaying the start of

the rate increase six months means that residents would continue to pay more than their fair share of utility rates. “I can truly appreciate businesses out there that are struggling with what’s going on with in�lation but so are the households,” Lopez said. “And we’re asking if we do delay this … we're further putting the burden onto our residents to subsidize the water that our businesses use.” As part of the research for this rate hike, the city commissioned a cost of use analysis

��� UTILITIES ���� 3

CUSD board OKs sub pay contract, kitchen re-do

COMMUNITY........... 29

Scholarship fund is late Basha High student's legacy.

BUSINESS ................... 34 Hotel owners bring a taste of Hawaii to Arizona Avenue.

REAL ESTATE ................................ 27 GRADUATION ............................ 22 COMMUNITY ............................. 29 BUSINESS ..................................... 34 SPORTS .......................................... 37 CLASSIFIEDS ................................ 38

BY KEN SAIN Arizonan Staff Writer

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uring the end of 2021, Chandler Uni�ied School District had a substitute teacher problem. With graduations coming at the end of the month, it is no longer an issue. The CUSD Governing Board authorized spending an additional $3 million May 11 to address that problem. The board approved increasing the contract with Educational Services, Inc. (ESI) from $5.5 million to $8.5 million. Lana Berry, the district’s chief �inancial of�icer, said that amount covers all the increased costs incurred during this school year. “This year, with COVID, we had a number of absences due to illness, and so we used more subs,” Berry said. “We also increased the rate during that period of time to try and attract more subs to come to our school

��� CUSD ���� 6

Esmeralda Feliciano fills muffin batter into baking cups at the Chandler Unified School District Food and Nutrition Central Kitchen, which will be getting a $4.4 million remodeling approved by the CUSD Governing Board on Wednesday. (David Minton/Arizonan Staff Photographer)


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