This article submitted by the City of Sedona
Sedona AZ (September 25, 2013) – Greetings to all the citizens of Sedona! I hope you had a wonderful summer. On behalf of the Sedona City Council, I am proud to announce my third annual State of the City Address on Thursday, September 26, at the City Council Chambers. Refreshments will begin at 5:00 p.m. and the Address will commence at 5:30 p.m. I cordially invite you to attend.
This year, the Address will cover a comprehensive review of the City’s fiscal condition, an update on significant accomplishments that have been achieved by City staff and City Council during the last fiscal year, as well as an overview of the draft Community Plan Update. I will give you an abbreviated outline of the address in this City Talk column.
BUDGET
I am proud to announce that for the fourth year in a row, the City of Sedona has ended its fiscal year with a “surplus” or “savings” in our General Fund. This year, there was a total of $1,845,429 of revenues in excess of expenditures in this fund. At the end of June, the General Fund unrestricted fund balance, otherwise known as our reserve, was $14,629,368. Last year, the reserve balance was $12.7 million dollars. The Cumulative total of all of the City’s reserve or fund balances is $43,115,024, which is up from last fiscal year, when our total fund balance was $42,737,894.
Regarding the year-end debt as of June 30, the total debt was $50,870,000, which is down from the $55,080,000 debt as of June 30 of 2012.
Our reserve funds are extremely healthy, our expenditures are less than our revenues, and we have a sustainable plan to service our debt.
The only concern in an otherwise positive financial picture is the management and funding of some of our capital projects. The City has been funding major capital projects like Storm Water Management and Streets Maintenance on a “pay as you go” basis. It is estimated that the Storm Water Management projects alone will cost in excess of $20 million dollars. In response to the concerns of our public health and safety, the City Council has accelerated the timeline on these projects. With this accelerated rate, it is estimated that the available funding for these projects will be depleted within 3 years. City staff and City Council are discussing funding options to address these concerns.
Sedona City Council in session
BUSINESS
Cumulative sales and bed taxes collected for the current fiscal year increased over the last fiscal year by approximately 5.82%. It appears that Sedona is slowly emerging from the Great Recession. The Tourism Industry is improving at a relatively moderate pace as evidenced by our sales and bed tax increases. Several other cities in the State are having a more robust recovery, particularly those in major metropolitan areas. It is speculated that this is primarily fueled by a pent up demand for cars, appliances and other household consumer goods. Cities that have car dealerships, furniture and appliance stores and other consumer-oriented businesses are the primary immediate beneficiaries of the economic recovery. Tourism or discretionary spending is slower to recover.
COMMUNITY PLAN UPDATE
City of Sedona Mayor Rob Adams
A revolutionary new approach to Community Plan updates has been underway for the last three years. On September 14, 2010, a Citizen’s Steering Committee was appointed by the Sedona City Council to work with the Planning and Zoning Commission, staff and the community to prepare an Updated Community Plan draft that involved Sedona citizens to the greatest extent possible in defining the vision of our city’s future.
The Community vision resulted in six major outcomes that emerged from the planning process. These outcomes explain what we want our community to look and feel like in 2020 and beyond. The outcomes are: 1) Economic Diversity, 2) Housing Diversity, 3) Access to Oak Creek, 4) Community Gathering Places, 5) Reduced Traffic and, 6) Commitment to environmental protection.
I will be giving a more detailed overview of these outcomes in the State of the City Address. The draft of the Community Plan may be found on the city website at www.SedonaAZ.gov. Click on Community Plan button found on the homepage.
Many other notable achievements will be mentioned in the State of the City Address. If you cannot attend in person, the presentation will be aired live on local channel 4 and live streamed on the city website beginning at 5:30 p.m. The video will also be archived on the website under the Specialty tab for later viewing.
This article was submitted by the City of Sedona staff and written by Mayor Rob Adams with this disclaimer: The views that I am expressing are my personal opinions and not necessarily the opinion or position of the City of Sedona or the City Council.
For the best in Arizona news and views, read www.SedonaEye.com daily!
Why do those people stand up and talk before city council like people care or will hear them beyond city hall? No we do not care to track you down and ask you what you said or think. We don’t care because we never hear what you have to say. I will never watch a city council video. If you want people to hear what you have to say stop speaking to the choir and send it here and let the writers dissect it. It’s a citywide gift to have people like Eddie Maddock, Jean Jenks, Rick Normand, Barbara Litrell, Rob Adams, Gary Marshall and comments like Sharlett, Wendy Tanzer, Gary, Mike, Tom and Glenn and others who have given give us information and ideas and more putting their words out where the mass of us can read it and argue and argue some more. That’s what the news should do, offer us a place to talk and get new ideas not spoon feed us. I’m proud to be a Sedona Eye fan. Just sayin…
You hit the nail on the head, Kevin. Here we can have an honest exchange of ideas, share facts and agree to disagree on many topics under discussion. That’s what freedom of the press is all about. Thank you Sedona Eye for giving us a place and the opportunity where we can do that!!
@Kevin
Your reasoning is sensible but unfortunately not the way things work. It’s the handful of people who show up at meetings and plead their case before the city council that DO have their way.
Case in point: Chamber of Commerce. A mere 6 or 8 people spoke in support of giving the C of C over one million $$ and who knows how many out of the 6 will profit such as in producing ads or something down the road? In a way it’s still the “silent majority” who continue to get the shaft as thousands of our tax dollars are frittered away, such as this contract with the chamber when there is absolutely no accountability or even a plan on how “they” will spend all of that money.
Of course the property on Brewer Road will be claimed either by condemnation or purchase by the city. Where will the money come from to create the “visionary” park?
Contributors to Sedona Eye can only offer facts but that seems to be something the city council or staff do not want to hear. Their “facts” are reflected in the glowing report of our Mayor who is at least truthful enough to admit the shortage of money for storm drainage and whatever else is really needed by residents of Sedona. Oh, but I forgot. We, the residents, contribute nothing to the tax base. Since when?
Just how rosy is the City’s financial picture?
According to the Arizona Department of Revenue’s most recent calculations, the City of Sedona’s per capita debt of $5,507.45 is the fifth highest of Arizona’s 91 cities.
The bed taxes collected for FY 2013 when compared with FY 2012 only increased by a miniscule .54%. Five out of six months from Jan to June 2013 were in the red.
Here’s what the Mayor wrote a citizen concerned because the Council is very seriously considering a city property tax secured by GO-Bonds:
“Hi [name],
The City’s finances are in good shape.
The problem is, we are looking at multi-million dollar projects like storm-water management that need to be expedited in order to protect property and the safety of our citizens. We do not have the ready cash [they’ve been spending it] to expedite these projects.
That is why we are considering other options.
Rob”
In addition to cutting back on spending, the City Council must change its Ordinance mandating Development Impact Fees be used for parkland purchases. Future fees must go for uses other than parks. Per state statute, ARS 9-463.05 DEVELOPMENT FEES; IMPOSITION BY CITIES AND TOWNS; etc: Municipalities can charge Development Impact Fees for the following facilities that have a life of over three years or more: water, wastewater, storm water, streets, Police and Fire, parks, Libraries.