Home Rule up for renewal in Sedona in 2026 – Sedona Red Rock News
The Sedona City Council unanimously approved a resolution during its meeting Tuesday, Jan. 27, calling for the 2026 election of three council seats with four-year terms and for the selection of the city’s successor to interim Mayor Holli Ploog.
As part of the agenda item, the council also approved “a potential proposal to extend the Alternative Expenditure Limitation/Home Rule,” and a $650 advertising budget related to the election.
Election Dates
The municipal election will coincide with the state Primary Election, currently scheduled for either Tuesday, July 28, or Tuesday, Aug. 4. While the primary is set for August, the legislature may move it to the last Tuesday in July to ensure compliance with the Electoral Count Reform Act of 2022.
State election officials worry a recount could cause them to miss federal deadlines for submitting election results. Arizona also moved its primary in 2024 for the same reason.
If the Primary Election is held in August, the last day for City Council candidates to file their nomination petitions is Monday, April, 6 with the office of the Sedona City Clerk, and the voter registration deadline is the last day for voters to register is Monday, July 6.
In the event of a July Primary Election, the last day for City Council candidates to file their nomination petitions is Friday, March 20, and the voter registration deadline is Monday, June 29.
If a runoff election is required, it will take place during the General Election on Tuesday, Nov. 5, which has a voter registration deadline on Monday, Oct. 5.
Candidates Thus Far
William Grosz, Henry Silbiger and Vice Mayor Brian Fultz have filed statements of interest to run for mayor. Ploog is not seeking the position and will return to her role as a regular councilwoman once a new mayor is elected.
Three council seats are also up for grabs: Councilwoman Melissa Dunn’s seat, who is seeking reelection; Fultz’s seat; and Councilman Pete Furman’s seat, who is not running. Lita Loesch Boyd and Jean-Christophe Buillet have filed statements of interest for City Council so far. Sedona residents interested in running for City Council can contact City Clerk JoAnne Cook at (928) 282-3113 or jcook@sedonaaz.gov.
Council Pay
Currently, the monthly compensation is $800 for the mayor and $550 for council members. That could change following the council’s December Priority Retreat, when Furman requested the creation of a citizens’ committee to investigate and make a recommendation on potentially increasing council compensation to encourage more candidates from diverse socioeconomic backgrounds. Any raise, however, would not take effect until after the November election.
During the meeting also unanimously approved the City Council Compensation Review Work Group and a City Council Audit Subcommittee following a request to pull it from the consent agenda from one resident who spoke against the item.
The work group will meet at least three times and will be made up of six members who will be appointed by council along with one member of council, and has until the end of 2026 to make a recommendation. Furman said the work group does not currently have a recruitment timeline.
Audit Subcommittee
Council approved the creation of an Audit Subcommittee to advise on financial audits and the performance of the city government, a move requested by Furman at the December retreat. The subcommittee will meet quarterly or as needed and be made up of Dunn, Furman, Fultz, a chairperson will be selected from the trio.
Home Rule
Nearly $80 million in allowed city spending is on the line this year as Sedona voters decide whether to renew the city’s Home Rule, the measure that sets how much of its money the city can spend.
There are three options for a municipality in Arizona to set how much it can spend:
■ The state limit that is based on the 1980 budget and 1978 population, adjusted annually for inflation and population growth
■ A permanent base adjustment that, through voter approval, increases the 1980 base to a new base, and only requires an election when that limit is raised. Mesa used the second one and it is estimated to need its next election in 30 years.
■ The final is Home Rule that Sedona has used since 1996 that replaces the state limit with the city’s annual adopted budget and requires regular voter approval.
The Fiscal Year 2025-26 State Expenditure Limit for Sedona is $15,411,542, with $8,239,380 in city exemptions such as grant funding, creating $23,650,922 of allowable expenditures under the State Limit.
However, with Home Rule, Sedona’s FY 2025- 26 Adopted Budget is $103,497,496, allowing the city to spend nearly $80 million over the state expenditure limit.
If Home Rule fails, taxes would still be collected at the same rate but the city could not spend beyond the state limit. The city has the option to float a one-time override vote to adjust the spending limit.
“The reality is, we still collect [the revenue], even if the expenditure limit were to drop down to the $15.4 [million]. We would still collect all of the … revenue, and it would just sit in the bank and we could invest it, but we could not spend it,” Deputy City Manager Barbara Whitehorn said during the retreat.
Dunn told the NEWS that among the reasons she supports continuing Home Rule is that, without it, she thinks the city can’t access or control funds effectively and representative and decision-making is limited.
“I believe that Home Rule is important,” Dunn said. “Because without Home Rule … you could run into the fact that we [wouldn’t] have a police department anymore. Maybe we’ll have to be like the Village of Oak Creek and use the [Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office]. … Maintenance might be minimal, and certainly no new facilities. So a lot of things that we as residents sort of rely on and count on, there just wouldn’t be any funding for.”
“Historically, Home Rule has proven popular with the residents of Sedona as the preferred budgeting approval model for how the city plans its annual activities,” Fultz said. “I do support Home Rule, because I do think it is both efficient and it creates stability and plan for year to year, project [and] plans that need to have that clear visibility to having budget support in order to be completed.”
Public hearings on Home Rule are scheduled for Tuesday, March 10, at 4:30 p.m. during the regularly scheduled Sedona City Council Meeting and Tuesday, March 24, at 3:30 p.m. as a special meeting.
The city of Sedona also anticipates that it will update its Frequently Asked Questions about Home Rule on sedonaaz.gov sometime next week.