Scottsdale, Arizona
| Scottsdale, Arizona | |
 | |
| General information | |
Mayor of Scottsdale
David Ortega | |
| Last mayoral election: | 2024 |
| Next mayoral election: | 2028 |
| Last city council election: | 2024 |
| Next city council election: | 2026 |
| City council seats: | 7[1] |
| City website | |
| Composition data (2019) | |
| Population: | 250,602 |
| Race: | White 88.1% African American 1.8% Asian 4.9% Native American 0.8% Pacific Islander 0.1% Two or more 2.3% |
| Ethnicity: | Hispanic 10.2% |
| Median household income: | $88,213 |
| High school graduation rate: | 96.7% |
| College graduation rate: | 58.4% |
| Related Scottsdale offices | |
| Arizona Congressional Delegation Arizona State Legislature Arizona state executive offices | |
Scottsdale is a city located in Maricopa County, Arizona. The city's population was 241,361 as of 2020, according to the United States Census Bureau.
Click on the links below to learn more about the city's...
- Mayor
- City council
- Other elected officials
- Elections
- Census information
- Budget
- Contact information
- Ballot measures
- County government
City government
- See also: Council-manager government
The city of Scottsdale utilizes a council-manager system. In this form of municipal government, an elected city council, which includes the mayor and serves as the city's primary legislative body, appoints an executive called a city manager to oversee day-to-day municipal operations and implement the council's policy and legislative initiatives.[2]
Mayor
The mayor is a member of the city council. He or she presides over council meetings and official city ceremonies. The mayor also represents the city on the state, national, and international levels.[2] The current Mayor of Scottsdale is David Ortega (nonpartisan). Ortega assumed office in 2021.
City manager
The city manager is the city's chief executive. The responsibilities of the city manager include overseeing the city's day-to-day operations, appointing city employees, and planning and implementing the city's operating budget.[2]
City council
The Scottsdale City Council is the city's primary legislative body. It is responsible for approving and adopting the city budget, levying taxes, and making or amending city laws, policies, and ordinances.[2]
The city council consists of seven members including the mayor. All are elected at large.[2]
The widget below automatically displays information about city council meetings. The topic list contains a sampling of keywords that Voterheads, a local government monitoring service, found in each meeting agenda. Click the meeting link to see more info and the full agenda:
Scottsdale County Island Fire District
- See also: Special districts
Special districts are a form of local government that exist to fulfill a specific purpose within a certain geographic area. This region can be as large as a county or smaller than a city block. Special districts have the power to tax their local residents in order to fund operational expenditures. Although a special district may be formed for any stated purpose, the most common examples include library, hospital, transportation, airport, utility, conservation, sanitation, fire control, and flood control districts.
Other elected officials
Ballotpedia does not cover any additional city officials in Scottsdale, Arizona.
Mayoral partisanship
Scottsdale has an independent mayor. As of January 2025, 64 mayors in the largest 100 cities by population are affiliated with the Democratic Party, 24 are affiliated with the Republican Party, one is affiliated with the Libertarian Party, four are independents, four identify as nonpartisan or unaffiliated, and three mayors' affiliations are unknown. Click here for a list of the 100 largest cities' mayors and their partisan affiliations.
Mayoral elections are officially nonpartisan in most of the nation's largest cities. However, many officeholders are affiliated with political parties. Ballotpedia uses one or more of the following sources to identify each officeholder's partisan affiliation: (1) direct communication from the officeholder, (2) current or previous candidacy for partisan office, or (3) identification of partisan affiliation by multiple media outlets.
Elections
2024
The city of Scottsdale, Arizona, held general elections for mayor, city council, and fire district on November 5, 2024. A primary was scheduled for July 30, 2024. The filing deadline for this election was April 1, 2024, and the filing deadline for the fire district was July 8, 2024.
2022
The city of Scottsdale, Arizona, held general elections for city council and fire district board on November 8, 2022. A primary was scheduled for August 2, 2022. The filing deadline for this election was April 4, 2022.
2020
The city of Scottsdale, Arizona, held general elections for mayor and three city council seats on November 3, 2020. A primary was scheduled for August 4, 2020. The filing deadline for this election was April 6, 2020.
2019
Scottsdale voters voted on three city bond questions on November 5, 2019. Click here to read more about the local ballot measures.
2018
The city of Scottsdale, Arizona, held general elections for city council on November 6, 2018. The primary was on August 28, 2018. The deadline for candidates to file to run in this election was May 30, 2018.
2016
The mayor's office and three seats on the Scottsdale City Council were up for general election on November 8, 2016. No primary was held in 2016 because a primary is only necessary in Scottsdale when more than two candidates file for a particular seat.[3]
2014
The city of Scottsdale, Arizona held nonpartisan elections for city council on November 4, 2014. A primary election was held on August 26, 2014. Three of the six council seats were up for election. Because no candidate received a majority of the total votes in the primary election, the top six candidates proceeded to the general election. Incumbent Linda Milhaven and candidates Kathy Littlefield and David N. Smith defeated incumbent Dennis Robbins, Cindy Hill and Jennifer Petersen.[4][5][6]
Census information
The table below shows demographic information about the city.
| Demographic Data for Scottsdale | |
|---|---|
| Scottsdale | |
| Population | 241,361 |
| Land area (sq mi) | 184 |
| Race and ethnicity** | |
| White | 81.9% |
| Black/African American | 2% |
| Asian | 5.1% |
| Native American | 0.7% |
| Pacific Islander | 0.5% |
| Two or more | 8% |
| Hispanic/Latino | 9.4% |
| Education | |
| High school graduation rate | 97.5% |
| College graduation rate | 61.5% |
| Income | |
| Median household income | $107,372 |
| Persons below poverty level | 7.1% |
| Source: population provided by U.S. Census Bureau, "Decennial Census" (2020). Other figures provided by U.S. Census Bureau, "American Community Survey" (5-year estimates 2018-2023). | |
| **Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here. | |
Budget
The city's budget process operates by fiscal years running from July 1 to June 30. The city charter gives responsibility for drafting an expense and capital budget to the city manager. The budget is then adopted in a meeting of the city council. The city's budget is made up of several separate funds: general, special revenue, debt service, enterprise, internal service, trust, and capital improvement.[2][7]
Revenue and expenditure by year
The total revenue and expenditure figures were pulled from the "Summary Schedule of Estimated Revenues and Expenditures/Expenses" sections of the city's annual financial reports.[7][8][9][10][11][12][13]
| City of Scottsdale historical revenue and expenditures | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Fiscal year | Budget type | Total revenue | Total expenditure |
| 2024-2025 | Adopted | $2,816,424,882 | $2,294,846,905 |
| 2023-2024 | Adopted | $3,026,966,547 | $2,533,270,561 |
| 2022-2023 | Adopted | $1,814,600,000 | $2,112,000,000 |
| 2021-2022 | Adopted | $1,420,400,000 | $1,785,300,000 |
| 2020-2021 | Adopted | $1,253,700,000 | $1,540,400,000 |
| 2019-2020 | Adopted | $1,281,500,000 | $1,541,800,000 |
| 2018-2019 | Adopted | $1,031,900,000 | $1,366,800,000 |
Scottsdale, Arizona, salaries and pensions over $95,000
Below is a map of the nationwide salaries and pensions in this city over $95,000. To search a different ZIP code, enter it in the search bar within the map.
Noteworthy events
2020: Events and activity following the death of George Floyd
During the weekend of May 29-31, 2020, demonstrations and protests took place in cities nationwide, including Scottsdale, following the death of George Floyd. Events in Scottsdale, Arizona, began on Saturday, May 30, 2020, following earlier protests in the Phoenix area.[14] On May 31, Gov. Doug Ducey (R) issued a statewide curfew.[15] The national guard was not deployed.
2015: Study on city's nondiscrimination laws
In July 2015, the Movement Advancement Project described Scottsdale, Arizona, as a city or county that did not prohibit discrimination in employment on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity via ordinances that apply to public and private employers. At that time, a total of 71 of America's largest 100 cities prohibited private employers from discriminating on the basis of sexual orientation, while 69 of those cities also prohibited discrimination based on gender identity. This did not include those jurisdictions that prohibited discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity for government employees.[16]
Nondiscrimination laws can cover a variety of areas, including public employment, private employment, housing, and public accommodations. Such laws may be enacted at the state, county, or city level.
Contact information
Mayor's office
3939 N. Drinkwater Blvd.
Scottsdale, AZ 85251
Phone: 480-312-2433
City Clerk's office
3939 N. Drinkwater Blvd.
Scottsdale, AZ 85251
Phone: 480-312-2412
Click here for city council contact information.
Ballot measures
- See also: Maricopa County, Arizona ballot measures
The city of Scottsdale is in Maricopa County. A list of ballot measures in Maricopa County is available here.
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ The mayor is included in this number as one of the city council members.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 City of Scottsdale, "City Charter," accessed October 30, 2014
- ↑ Arizona Secretary of State, "2016 Election Information," accessed September 15, 2021
- ↑ City of Scottsdale, "Official candidate list," accessed June 25, 2014
- ↑ AZcentral.com, "Candidates headed for runoff in Scottsdale," August 27, 2014
- ↑ Maricopa County Elections Department, "Election Results Archives," accessed September 15, 2021
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 City of Scottsdale, "VOLUME ONE BUDGET SUMMARY City of Scottsdale FY 2020/21 Budget," accessed August 10, 2021 (page 11) Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; name "budgetsummary" defined multiple times with different content - ↑ City of Scottsdale, "VOLUME ONE BUDGET SUMMARY City of Scottsdale FY 2019/20 Budget," accessed August 10, 2021 (page 46)
- ↑ City of Scottsdale, "VOLUME ONE BUDGET SUMMARY City of Scottsdale FY 2018/19 Budget," accessed August 10, 2021 (page 50)
- ↑ City of Scottsdale, "Budget Summary Volume One FY 2022-23 Budget," accessed October 20, 2022
- ↑ City of Scottsdale, "Volume One Budget Summary City of Scottsdale FY 2021-22 Budget," accessed October 20, 2022
- ↑ City of Scottsdale, "Volume One Budget Summary City of Scottsdale FY 2023-24 Budget," accessed August 25, 2023
- ↑ City of Scottsdale, "FY 2024-2025 Adopted Budget Ordinance and State Forms," accessed October 29, 2024
- ↑ Arizona Central, "Updates: Scottsdale police declare unlawful assembly," May 30, 2020
- ↑ Office of the Governor Doug Ducey, "Emergency Declaration, Curfew In Place," May 31, 2020
- ↑ Movement Advancement Project, "Local Employment Non-Discrimination Ordinances," accessed July 7, 2015
 |
State of Arizona Phoenix (capital) |
|---|---|
| Elections |
What's on my ballot? | Elections in 2025 | How to vote | How to run for office | Ballot measures |
| Government |
Who represents me? | U.S. President | U.S. Congress | Federal courts | State executives | State legislature | State and local courts | Counties | Cities | School districts | Public policy |
