Pete Furman

Sedona City Council OKs $103M budget, new staff – Sedona Red Rock News

The Sedona City Council unanimously passed its $103,291,695 budget on Tuesday, June 24, for Fiscal Year 2025-26, which went into effect on Tuesday, July 1. The vote was 6-0 with Councilman Brian Fultz absent.

The approved budget represents a 2.8% decrease from the previous year’s $106 million. The reduction is driven by a $6.8 million decrease in capital expenses, which dropped from $48 million to $42 million because of the competition of such projects as the Forest Road Extension.

Meanwhile, operating expenses increased year-over-year from $57.891 million to $61.2 million.

Operational changes include the addition of 12.8 full-time equivalent employees across the city, a majority of which will be Sedona Police Department staff.

SPD will have five new patrol officers with a one-time cost of $692,535 and ongoing annual costs of $535,467; three new motor officers with a one-time cost of $373,337 with an annual cost of $444,279; and a community outreach officer — who will focus on homeless residents and visitors — with a one-time cost of $161,474 and an ongoing annual cost of $102,064. Additionally SPD will receive a full-time Emergency Management coordinator and a part-time evidence technician.

The City Clerk’s Office will add a short-term rental code enforcement officer. The Municipal Court will extend a part-time security officer to full time and the Public Works Department will upgrade part-time hours to create two full-time positions.

The final budget was $706,292 less than the adopted tentative budget, approved on May 27, which was driven in large part because a salary staff study cost $400,000 less than anticipated.

Facilities maintenance costs will rise $133,000 for utilities, equipment and city parking lot repairs. Public transit costs will grow $32,000 for micro-transit, shuttle costs and a parking study. Street maintenance will increase $21,000 due to higher material and labor costs.

Revenues

The “March, sales and bed tax were disappointing this year,” Director of Financial Services Barbara Whitehorn said. “They were still higher than budget, but they were lower than [the] prior year … which was surprising for the same time period. So we kind of anticipated that April would show the same kind of trend given what we’re seeing nationally. Surprisingly, it did not. We had the best April for sales and bed tax that we’ve ever had.”

The estimated bed tax revenue for FY 25 was $9.2 million, with the actual revenue coming in at $9.7 million, and the estimated FY 26 bed tax revenue remains at $9.2 million, according to the budget packet. However, the final report for FY 25 including the revenue from June won’t be available for another 45 days, according to city Communication Director Lauren Browne.

“So next steps, for the budget in FY 26 … we will continue to monitor economic conditions, particularly sales and bed tax,” Whitehorn said. “We look at consumer confidence indices, market performance and where the Fed[eral Reserve] is headed. It looked like the Fed was going to reduce rates … and they’ve decided they’re not going to do that right now. I would, however, be surprised if they didn’t reduce rates by 25 basis points by the end of the calendar year. But I’m not a professional economist, so I’m basing my opinion on that of actual economists and what their expectations are.”

City budget analyst Sterling West said he anticipates a budget surplus of $7.3 million and staff were directed by council to provide an update on the results of FY 25 in January prior to the final vote.

One person spoke in opposition to the budget during the call the public.

Navajo Lofts

With a 5-1 vote, council approved the Final Plat for Navajo Lofts, a 60-unit subdivision located near the intersection of Southwest Drive and State Route 89A, with Councilwoman Kathy Kinsella voting against.

“Kinsella expressed a desire that the units remain for rent rather than available for ownership,” the meeting packet reads in reference to the Jan. 28 meeting where Kinsella also was the lone dissenting vote. “While the city cannot prohibit a subdivision on the property, the developer/current property owner has entered into a Development Agreement with the city that prohibits the use of the units as short-term rentals.”

Animal Ordinance

Council moved the possible approval of an ordinance banning the display or performance of “exotic” animals unless an exhibitor has permission of a property owner and has a permit as a wildlife exhibitor from Arizona Department of Game and Fish or U.S. Department of Agriculture to the Tuesday, Aug. 12, meeting.

Lew Hoyt

Philanthropist and Sedona Red Rock High School assistant track and field coach Lew Hoyt was honored by council for his contributions to the community, with about half of the near-capacity council chambers on hand for the presentation.

“[Hoyt] walks our hallways and our lunch room. I have two daughters that go to school [here],” Sedona-Oak Creek School District Superintendent Tom Swaninger Ph.D., said. “[Hoyt] sits with them, asks them, looks them in the eye and shares the wisdom that he has. He’s not only made my life better, but hundreds of children over the years and you may never know the true impact that you’ve had.”

Dry Creek Shared-Use Path

The council approved a $1.9 million construction contract with Doege Development LLC for Phase III of the Dry Creek Road Shared-Use Path. Construction will begin in July and continue through March, covering the segment from Gringo Road to White Bear Road, including a path alignment change between White Bear Road and Kachina Drive. However, even after this phase, the path still does not reach State Route 89A. Public comment was split, with one resident speaking in support and one opposed.

Phase One of the Dry Creek Road SUP was completed in 2021 and runs from Two Fence Trail to Forest Road 152. Phase Two, finished early this year, extended the path from Two Fence Trail to north of Gringo Road.

Council unanimously approved the Doege contract, however, members expressed concerns about the piecemeal approach to construction and the project approval, emphasizing the need for a more comprehensive plan when city staff drafts projects. Some council members, particularly Councilman Pete Furman, voiced reservations about the project’s approach.

“I’m frustrated because I think this council and our public could have benefited from a more holistic discussion of the entire plan before we segmented it out and in parts that we did,” Furman said.

Furman added that outreach to residents could have been better, that the complete streets element from the community plan was not fully implemented, that the city should have first started addressing traffic and bicycle issues near the intersection of Dry Creek Road and State Route 89A and that he thinks a future council will have to spend more money to redo portions of the project.

“I’m disappointed about the process that we used … we’re going to produce a project that’s going to be good and it could have been great,” Furman said.

“I would like to see in the future, complete paths done instead of starting-stopping and have them incomplete for a while,” Sedona Mayor Scott Jablow said. “I think it gives the wrong message to our community that for whatever reason [the city] can’t finish a project.”

At several points, council members stated that they want to see how all phases of a construction project fit together.

“I need to visualize the whole [project], even if we build it in sections,” Vice Mayor Holli Ploog said. “I find it difficult to actually know whether what we’re doing is the right thing or not. ‘I just have to nod my head and say, I trust our public works department.’ It’s not that I don’t trust public works, I’d like to see it myself and to be able to explain it when people ask us questions, which right now I cannot do.”

Deputy City Manager Andy Dickey said the city would consider the request but noted that creating renderings is time-intensive and typically reserved for larger projects, making it difficult to produce them for every smaller one.

“I hear you Andy, but $3 million here, $3 million there,” Ploog said. “It’s a big project eventually. I mean, this is not going to be an insubstantial amount of money.”

“We’ll look into it and see what we can do,” Dickey said.

Council approves service agreements with out-of-area firms – Sedona Red Rock News

On May 27, the Sedona City Council approved a set of master service agreements for on-call professional engineering services that will allow city staff to enter into certain consulting contracts with firms without having to seek council approval for each contract.

Contracts will be limited to $300,000 per contract and a maximum of $1 million over three years in each of six categories — wastewater, architecture, general engineering, mechanical and electric engineering, structural engineering and quality assurance services.

Wastewater Director Roxanne Holland explained that her department intended to use the MSAs for “smaller design” work on projects, including pipeline design and replacement and drain bed replacement.

Director of Public Works Kurt Harris said the agreements would be used for “smaller projects … things that we need to be on call and more nimble.”

Out-of-Region Firms

City procurement officer Ian Coubrough said that city staff had received 34 submissions in response to a request for proposals issued on Dec. 30, 2024, and selected 23 of those firms with which to enter into MSAs. The agreements will run through fiscal year 2028, which Coubrough said would “allow for a more efficient contracting process.”

“These are our business partners. We need to work with them and work towards each other’s best interests,” Coubrough said.

“How many of these would you consider local?” Councilwoman Kathy Kinsella asked.

“We’re not necessarily recording that information,” Coubrough said, but added that a few of the firms were operating locally. “We didn’t go through a local buying metric or anything like that.”

“That anecdotal information is sufficient for me,” Kinsella said.

Of the 23 firms selected for MSA awards, none are headquartered in the Verde Valley. Awarded firms and their locations were:

• Advanced Structural Engineering, Scottsdale
• Ardurra Group, Miami, Fla.
• Canfield Engineering and Integration, Chandler
• Carollo Engineers, Phoenix
• Childers Architect, Phoenix
• Civiltech Engineering, Itasca, Ill.
• Coe & Van Loo Consultants, Phoenix
• Consor North America, Houston
• Entellus, Phoenix
• Gabor Lorant Architects, Phoenix
• GH2 Architects, Scottsdale
• GLHN Architects and Engineers, Tucson
• Huitt-Zollars, Dallas, Tex.
• J.E. Fuller Hydrology and Geomorphology, Flagstaff and Tempe
• Kimley-Horn and Associates, Phoenix
• LAST Architects, Phoenix
• Ninyo and Moore Geotechnical and Environmental Sciences, Prescott Valley
• Pacific Advanced Civil Engineering, Fountain Valley, Calif.
• Quality Testing LLC, Gilbert
• Quantum Integrated Solutions, Tempe
• Speedie and Associates, Flagstaff
• Van Boerum and Frank Associates, Murray, Utah
• Western Technologies Inc., Flagstaff

Spending Cap

“I’m a fan of efficiency, but I don’t think I’m a fan of loosening the limits that much,” Councilman Pete Furman commented, and asked why staff had suggested a $300,000 limit on the contract value when the city manager’s discretionary spending authority is capped at $100,000.

“Why is it that [Sedona City Manager] Anette [Spickard] can sign off for $150,000 or $300,000 as it relates to this, but every thing else is still a $100,000 max?” Councilman Brian Fultz similarly asked. “I’m not opposed to bumping up the $100,000 necessarily, but I just kind of want us to have a broader policy perspective about why would we treat this different than any other discretion that we give the city manager?”

“Ian is also working on a broader procurement policy update to bring to council in which that question of signature authority and delegation will be addressed,” Spickard said.

“We don’t write blank checks for a million dollars, and that’s what this is,” Fultz said.

“If you wish to amend the motion that’s before you tonight, you can request that any work orders under this contract return to city council for approval in excess of $100,000,” Coubrough said.

“I think it should come back to us,” Kinsella said, suggesting an alternative cap of $150,000.

“They can at least get through not having to go through the RFP and all the rest of the stuff that they did. We’d have some qualified vendors,” Furman said.

“$300,000 these days is pretty small,” Vice Mayor Holli Ploog said. Councilwoman Melissa Dunn agreed.

“I can go along with the $150,000, but I wouldn’t go any higher without there being council oversight,” Fultz said. “My proposal to my colleagues is, let’s have it come in front of us at $150,000. It can come via the consent agenda.”

Furman suggested adding language specifying that “items over the city manager’s signing authority must still come to council. And then, when that floats, whatever the number is going to be the future for the signing authority, this would then float with it as well,” a proposal supported by Mayor Scott Jablow and by Fultz.

After further discussion about how the process would work, council voted unanimously for approval of the agreements “subject to the approval of the city manager’s signing authority.”