Mike Archambault: Our town’s tight fiscal situation will require a number of changes to be made because deficit spending is not an option. But, trimming the balance of the original $1.6 million sought ($1.1mil) from next year’s operating budget will be a monumental task. Undoubtedly some changes will be noticed.

The council has already reduced staff and as a result our town is the leanest in the state. To make more staff cuts will require modifications in operating priorities and will impact some desirable services.

Cutting operational expenses will continue to be explored in such areas as leasing equipment rather than purchasing, decreasing support for community events, deferring maintenance, reducing the number of services provided, and trimming staff salaries and benefits.

Additional revenues may be sought to recover the full cost of services that benefit only the user, such as fire inspection fees, liquor license fees, encroachment permit fees, and home delivered meals.

Twenty years ago our town got its start by relying on volunteers to make things happen and it continues to do so today. For the foreseeable future more volunteers will be needed to maintain the quality of life our community enjoys. They could even be used to shore up programs at risk.

It is these combinations of efforts and my acute understanding of how our town functions that will get us through the tight fiscal situation. Just two years ago the community mandate was for the town to work within existing revenues and the council is doing that very diligently; we are making tough decisions. Don’t be misled…there are no easy answers.

Ginny Dickey: From that first town gathering in 1984, the beginning of this community’s strategic planning process, pioneering leaders and later councils demonstrated a remarkable drive to seek and understand what made us tick…what was our vision?

More recently, the town, through SPAC, questionnaires, meetings, budget workshops, General Plan updates and even the town manager search, gathered clues and insight indicating the levels of service residents desire, and what costs they will tolerate. 

Professional staff with knowledge and wisdom, working with the mayor and others, are offering options, and we have to carefully, thoughtfully determine how to best proceed in this economic reality. While efficiencies have been realized, cuts made and conservative budgeting over the past few years mitigated the effects of the downturn, Fountain Hills is facing a more fundamental challenge. The predicted gap between income and spending by 2017, largely due to over reliance on unstable and unbalanced funding sources and build-out, has been accelerated by the more global conditions.

We will reduce expenses to navigate through these fiscal constraints, which may include more cutting, but also through cost-saving measures, like cross-training, bringing operations in-house or contracting out, energy reduction, public-private partnerships and grants. Longer-term solutions for revenue enhancement will be considered if it is collectively decided that citizens still want the services indicated by their feedback thus far.

We chose to come here and stay. I feel lucky to call Fountain Hills home and hope to help make decisions so everyone feels that way.

Tait Elkie: I do believe our town is going to be able to weather the current economic storm for FY 2009-10 based upon the revenues received to date, and the projected revenues for the second half of this budget year.

However, if the state-shared revenues are cut or if the local sales tax revenues were to fall, there would need to be some additional cuts.  It is important to note for the first half of this fiscal year which began July 1, 2009, approximately 43 percent of our town’s General Fund revenues came from state-shared revenues, and 49 percent came from local sales tax. If the projected state-shared revenues were cut for the second half of this fiscal year, it would have a significant impact on our town’s budget. In addition, the fact that nearly half of our General Fund revenues come from local sales tax underscores the need for our residents to support our local businesses.

I do believe that our town should be looking at all options when it comes to budget sustainability, and we need to be proactive instead of reactive.  However, I do not believe a property tax is the only answer to our budget problems. We need to first focus on ways to reduce wasteful spending, which should include a top to bottom evaluation of the personnel and spending for each of the town’s departments. We should also not discourage development in ways such as tripling the building impact fees. Without question, our town needs to always run as efficiently as possible, and not only during economic downturns.

Hugh Henry: The current status is tenuous.  The current state budget and the funding from the state is unknown at this time. With the possible curtailing of some services and/or closing of some activities we should be able to get through the next fiscal year without additional taxation.

The Highway Users Revenue Fund (HURF) from the state to repair our streets appears to be in the budget but any other help or funding from the state is unknown.

 Henry Leger: Balancing the town’s budget amidst the current downturn in the economy is certainly a challenge - a challenge that is not unique to our town. The Town Council, working in concert with staff, has successfully managed our community through this difficult period by taking proactive steps. Over the past two fiscal years, the town has cut its operating budget by $1.4 million from FY07/08 to FY08/09 and by an additional $1.6 million from FY08/09 to FY09/10. 

Anticipating revenue losses; taking early cost saving measures; and re-engineering work processes has enabled us to maintain our quality of life and service levels. However, as state-shared revenue and local construction and retail sales tax continue to slide, further budget adjustment and cost saving initiatives will be necessary in FY10/11.

This will require exploring alternative revenue solutions, such as fee adjustments to recover the cost of services, and reducing program levels by continuing to narrow our focus on citizen priorities. Many tough decisions will need to be made both on the revenue and expenditure side of the ledger.

As your council representative, I will continue to take measured steps and make balanced decisions to work our way through this difficult period, while at the same time preparing our town to thrive once the current economic slowdown subsides. Furthermore, I will continue to closely monitor the town’s revenue and expenditures to ensure our financial sustainability. Addressing these challenges will require experienced leadership and fiscal responsibility - attributes that I bring to the table.