Whether it’s a business, family or government, one common denominator seems to rise to the surface when it comes to “need” – money, money, money.

The Times this week continues its series exploring the various stages of a town’s life and examining just where Fountain Hills is headed.

It’s never been easy sorting out the “money factor” in Fountain Hills because of the way it was originally developed by McCulloch Properties.

Several special districts were formed to fund some of the basic services in the community – a Fire District, for example, along with a Sanitary District, a School District and four (count ‘em!) Road Districts.

Chaparral City Water Co. was set up as a private entity, and homeowners today are still responsible for contracting with a firm for garbage collection.

Homeowners are often left wondering who does what and where does all the money go in the form of taxes, fees, quarterly bills, etc.?

Many of the larger municipalities in the Valley, for example, have most of those services under their wing and homeowners typically receive one monthly bill to cover water, sewer, garbage, etc.

After Fountain Hills became incorporated in 1989, there was a somewhat clearer delineation in that regard.

The Road Districts were dissolved and the town took over all street-related tasks. The Fire District kept operating until that, too, was dissolved in a controversial move by the Town of Fountain Hills in 2001.

For the rest of this decade, however, the municipal finance picture has become a bit more muddied once again.

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Growth through the 1990s and into the early 2000s helped finance the daily operations of Town Hall and its burgeoning divisions – streets, fire, police protection, parks and recreation, etc.

But as the state and national economies sputtered, it was quickly surmised that Fountain Hills could be in trouble down the road.

The Strategic Plan process clearly showed the hard numbers, but voters overwhelmingly rejected this past November any notion of implementing a property tax.

Former Mayor Wally Nichols strongly supported the tax, but he said it is now up to Mayor Jay Schlum and a new generation of leaders to figure that out.

In spite of some frustration Nichols is not discouraged, and he sees a continuing bright future for Fountain Hills.

“A lot of young professionals are coming into Fountain Hills and making their mark,” Nichols said. “They are getting involved in a very positive way.”

This new group of leadership is poised to take over and guide the town into a new stage of life, he said.

“This is going to be very good for the town,” Nichols said.

The mandate to become more fiscally responsible is clear according to Nichols. The town is addressing this by approaching projects as potential public/private partnerships.

“The town is not going to be doing everything on its own,” Nichols said.

He cites the construction of the Rotary Centennial Splash Park as an example of such a partnership with local Rotary Clubs. The town is working to expand programs for youths in cooperation with the Boys and Girls Club.

Where the town has put dollars for capital improvement the past few years has been where the public has indicated where they want upgrades. This is specifically in parks with the splash park, skate park at Desert Vista Park, improvements at Fountain Park and final development of Desert Vista.

“The parks are a very good place to put our dollars,” Nichols said. “It is somewhere for kids to go.”

The weak economy has put a damper on plans for commercial development in the downtown, but Nichols said this is an area where the town should remain focused.

 “Downtown build out is critical to the future and defining commercial development for the town,” Nichols said.

Fountain Hills must continue to look at the larger community.

“We cannot become an island onto ourselves,” Nichols said.

“We have to work with the School District, these are everybody’s kids, we have to improve relations with the Yavapai Nation as well as the greater community of Scottsdale and Mesa and work together on common issues.”

Sanitary District

For the Fountain Hills Sanitary District, a separate entity from town government, it has a fair amount of flexibility built into Arizona statutes when it comes to financing.

The district charges monthly sewer user fees to homeowners and businesses, owners of empty lots pay an availability fee if they have a sewer line available to it and its five-man board also sets an annual property tax rate to help pay for expenses and capital projects.

In the “early days” the Sanitary District had garnered a controversial bonding authority from a handful of residents that allowed future directors to simply sell bonds for projects without needing another public vote.

That authorization has been used up, however, and if the Sanitary District were ever to need millions of dollars at once, it would need to call for a new election.

However, between the various fees collected and property taxes, the district is hoping that another bond issue won’t be needed.

The district is currently in the middle of a $9 million improvement and expansion project at the wastewater treatment plant, and officials had enough money “in the bank” to pay for it.

The board had to raise the monthly user fees, however, to help pay for expenses this year and beyond. With housing starts down, the district has much less revenue coming in from hook-up and other fees associated with new construction.

Any expenses coming from a possible annexation of the former state trust land parcel will be borne by the developer, district officials have said.

School District

The Fountain Hills Unified School District obtains its revenues from primary and secondary property taxes as well as a series of voter-approved budget overrides.

The primary property taxes help pay for operating expenses, while secondary taxes pay off bonds for construction and other capital-related expenses.

In addition, the district gets about $6,200 per student from the state to help pay for teachers, etc.

With a bond and override package approved by voters in November 2007, the district does not anticipate additional revenue needs.

The maintenance and operation override along with the K-3 override will come before voters in November 2009 for seven-year renewals.

While the district owns several vacant parcels of land around town, it is doubtful they will be needed for additional school buildings.

The student population has been declining the past few years for a variety of reasons, lessening the need for additional schools or classrooms.

When the Ellman Cos. begin construction of its two major projects – The Preserve at Goldfield Ranch and the former state trust land in northern Fountain Hills – those students will be a part of FHUSD and attend schools here.

The district anticipates between 300 and 400 additional students just from the Fountain Hills parcel at buildout.

With the overrides in place and the recent bond package, it’s fair to say that FHUSD is in better financial shape than many other school districts around Arizona.

New series: Where are we going?
Series, Part 2: Planning is an issue