OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD
Record of Proceedings

Payson Town Council Special Meeting: FY2026 Budget Adoption and Property Tax Levy Hearing, June 25, 2025

Town Council & Planning and Zoning — Wednesday, June 25, 2025
BodyPayson, Arizona
SessionTown Council & Planning and Zoning
DateWednesday, June 25, 2025
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 1:20:53

Transcript — Verbatim
0:15

This is the special meeting of the common council of the town of Payson, June 25th, 2025.

0:22

Call to orders, 3 p.m.

0:25

Roll call, Dawn.

0:31

Ballant is appearing in a Zoom.

0:37

Or absent.

0:38

But we do have a quorum.

0:41

This is a public hearing pursuant to ARS 42-17104 regarding estimates of revenue and expenditures expenses and a proposed budget for the fiscal year 2025-2026.

0:56

The public hearing is for the budget and property tax levy for physical fiscal year 2025-2026.

1:04

This is a public hearing.

1:06

A discussion possible action regarding resolution 3453.

1:34

On resolution 3453.

1:46

As you mentioned, this is the um agenda item for the final budget for 2526.

2:16

We looked at personnel requests, compensation and benefits in April.

2:22

We looked at a draft budget and expenditure and operational enhancements and one-time expenditures in May, and also in May, we looked at the tentative budget, and we had a work session at 6.3, which is culminated in this particular document, our 2526 final budget.

2:55

Both expenditures and revenues are matching at that number.

3:30

Expenditures.

5:04

The library is at 685 million.

5:11

Sorry, 685,000.

5:14

The Advent Center is 440,000.

5:17

Capital projects are at 3.8 million.

5:20

The contingency fund is 250,000.

5:23

And then we have 1.3 million dollars expenditures in the capital replacement fund.

5:29

And then we have some of these other ancillary funds.

5:32

The Gibson Grant Fund is 1.9 million.

5:35

And then these other smaller funds that you can you can see right there.

5:39

And if you total all those, they total 91.6 million dollars.

5:49

Sure.

5:50

The GIFs and grants fund.

5:53

What is coming into that?

5:56

Is that what it is right now?

5:57

Is that the fund balance currently?

5:59

Um I think the fund balance currently is around 700,000.

6:04

Okay.

6:05

But they have a bunch of other monies coming into it.

6:08

They have the opioid money coming into it.

6:10

They have we have a fire grant going into it.

6:12

We have um Prop 7 uh marijuana money going in, both police and fire.

6:20

Right.

6:21

And so any grants we we're kind of putting into that.

6:25

It's unlikely that we'll ever spend that much in there, but um we have the we budget just in case there is an expenditure that you the council wants to make out of there.

6:37

And so here we'll look at the general fund.

6:41

Um available financing expenditures are 40 million, and you can see this number if you look at the budget schedules, um, the town budget schedules, the official schedules.

6:57

You look the bottom number on general fund, you'll see that number there, 40 million six twenty-nine.

7:02

And if anybody wants a hard copy of these schedules, I have some if you if you want to take a look at those.

7:10

And so where does that where does that 40 million come from?

7:14

Well, for the revenues, it includes this 38.6 million dollars in revenues, and that's found on Schedule C.

7:25

You look on Schedule C down at the bottom of general fund, you'll see that number 38, 67506.

7:33

Also on Schedule B is a property tax.

7:37

Property tax is not included in the regular revenues of general fund.

7:42

So you have 720, 720,000 in property tax.

7:46

We also have a transfer in from the water department at 547,000, and again, transfers are not included in regular revenues, it's included in schedule D.

7:57

If you look in schedule D, it lists all the transfers for all the funds.

8:03

Um, there's a 3.6 million dollar transfer out of the general fund.

8:08

That's a transfer out to the capital projects, transfer out to the airport fund, transfer out to library, um, and if you subtract that out and then add the fund balance that's being used, you'll get to that 40 million 629 number.

8:24

Again, that number is referenced on the schedule A, the very front page of the schedules.

8:33

Um, and this is where all the revenues come from.

8:38

Uh we have taxes, intergovernmental revenue, we have licenses and permits, we have charge for services, those are all the charged for services that we have in our different departments, fines and forfeitures, interest, and miscellaneous revenue.

8:54

And if you total all those, they'll total 38 million 675, and that's the number that you'll see in Schedule C again under the revenues for general fund.

9:06

Now, when we go uh during the year and we start looking at our monthly expenditures, the budget will actually show the revenue budget will actually show 39.9 million, and that's because that 540,000, which isn't included in the revenues in the state in the state schedule, that's included in our accounting system.

9:28

The accounting system includes that as revenue.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Budget Equity Analysis█████████████████████████████████████████████53%
Water And Wastewater Management█████████11%
Procedural████████9%
Public Engagement█████6%
Personnel Matters████5%
Capital Improvement████5%
Library Management███3%
Fiscal Sustainability██2%
Economic Development██2%
Summary of Proceedings

Payson Town Council Special Meeting – June 25, 2025

This special meeting of the Payson Town Council focused on adopting the Town's final budget for Fiscal Year 2026 (Resolution 3453) and holding the first public hearing on the property tax levy (Ordinance 971). The meeting began at 3:02 p.m. and adjourned at approximately 4:22 p.m.

Public Comments & Testimony

  • Mike Quinn questioned what he saw as contradictory economic messaging from council members (citing predictions of both prosperity and recession) and suggested focusing revenue generation on sales taxes paid by tourists rather than property taxes.
  • Jesse Barry criticized a council member for mocking the town librarian at a previous meeting, urging the council to show respect and love in public discourse. Council Member Ferris responded, stating he loves children and wants age‑appropriate materials in the library.
  • Tim Coyne urged the council to cut the budget, describing personnel and service costs as “out of control” and warning that a business in a similar position would be close to insolvency.
  • Laura Malone (via Zoom) questioned whether $4 million in anticipated PFAS settlement revenue was being properly reserved for PFAS‑related capital projects. Staff clarified that the first PFAS treatment facility was included on Exhibit B as a capital project.
  • Sharon Arnst (during the tax levy hearing) asked for clarification about the property tax increase; staff explained that while the tax rate had been reduced, rising property values might still result in higher individual tax bills.

Discussion Items

  • Final Budget for FY2026 (Resolution 3453): Finance Director Dana Ohanesian presented the $91.6 million budget, including $40.6 million in general fund expenditures. Key points: personnel costs rose to $24.7 million (budgeted, though actual spending in FY2025 was $20.5 million); $4 million in potential PFAS settlement revenue included; 2.3 million in fund balance used as placeholder for capital projects or liability reduction; the property tax levy would generate about $720,000 at a reduced rate of 0.2855 per $100 assessed valuation.
  • Council Discussion on Exhibit B: Council Member Ferris moved to remove four items from Exhibit B (the capital projects schedule): $1.5 million event center update/enhancement, $1 million pavement preservation, $4 million aging water main replacement, and $4,289,400 water line replacement. The motion was seconded by Mayor Otto. Staff noted removing these would not impede operations; they could be brought back for council approval individually.
  • Council Member Bell’s Concerns: Bell expressed unease about adopting the budget without input from the incoming town manager (employment agreement to be considered later in the evening). Staff explained the budget is a framework that can be reduced later, and that the statutory deadline for adoption allows for review until mid‑August.

Key Outcomes

  • Motion to Remove Four Projects from Exhibit B: Passed 4‑2‑1. Ayes: Mayor Stephen Otto, Vice Mayor Suzy Tubbs, Council Members Jim Ferris and Scott Nossek. Nays: Council Members Brett Flaherty and Dallin Haws. Abstain: Council Member Charlie Bell.
  • Adoption of Resolution 3453 (FY2026 Final Budget): Motion by Council Member Nossek, seconded by Vice Mayor Tubbs. Passed unanimously 7‑0. The budget adopts the estimates of revenues and expenditures as the Town’s final budget for fiscal year ending June 30, 2026.
  • First Public Hearing on Ordinance 971 (Property Tax Levy): Held as required. No action was taken; a second public hearing is scheduled for July 9, 2025, to adopt the ordinance. The proposed levy rate is 0.2855 per $100 assessed valuation, generating an estimated $720,000 – approximately $3,000 more than the prior year but at a lower tax rate.

Meeting Transcript

This is the special meeting of the common council of the town of Payson, June 25th, 2025. Call to orders, 3 p.m. Roll call, Dawn. Ballant is appearing in a Zoom. Or absent. But we do have a quorum. This is a public hearing pursuant to ARS 42-17104 regarding estimates of revenue and expenditures expenses and a proposed budget for the fiscal year 2025-2026. The public hearing is for the budget and property tax levy for physical fiscal year 2025-2026. This is a public hearing. A discussion possible action regarding resolution 3453. On resolution 3453. As you mentioned, this is the um agenda item for the final budget for 2526. We looked at personnel requests, compensation and benefits in April. We looked at a draft budget and expenditure and operational enhancements and one-time expenditures in May, and also in May, we looked at the tentative budget, and we had a work session at 6.3, which is culminated in this particular document, our 2526 final budget. Both expenditures and revenues are matching at that number. Expenditures. The library is at 685 million. Sorry, 685,000. The Advent Center is 440,000. Capital projects are at 3.8 million. The contingency fund is 250,000. And then we have 1.3 million dollars expenditures in the capital replacement fund. And then we have some of these other ancillary funds. The Gibson Grant Fund is 1.9 million. And then these other smaller funds that you can you can see right there. And if you total all those, they total 91.6 million dollars. Sure. The GIFs and grants fund. What is coming into that? Is that what it is right now? Is that the fund balance currently? Um I think the fund balance currently is around 700,000. Okay. But they have a bunch of other monies coming into it. They have the opioid money coming into it. They have we have a fire grant going into it. We have um Prop 7 uh marijuana money going in, both police and fire. Right. And so any grants we we're kind of putting into that. It's unlikely that we'll ever spend that much in there, but um we have the we budget just in case there is an expenditure that you the council wants to make out of there. And so here we'll look at the general fund. Um available financing expenditures are 40 million, and you can see this number if you look at the budget schedules, um, the town budget schedules, the official schedules. You look the bottom number on general fund, you'll see that number there, 40 million six twenty-nine. And if anybody wants a hard copy of these schedules, I have some if you if you want to take a look at those. And so where does that where does that 40 million come from? Well, for the revenues, it includes this 38.6 million dollars in revenues, and that's found on Schedule C. You look on Schedule C down at the bottom of general fund, you'll see that number 38, 67506. Also on Schedule B is a property tax. Property tax is not included in the regular revenues of general fund. So you have 720, 720,000 in property tax.

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