Payson Town Council Regular Meeting - March 2, 2026
Payson Town Council Regular Meeting - March 2, 2026
Note: The agenda, minutes, and transcript consistently refer to this meeting as February 25, 2026; however, the metadata provided indicates March 2, 2026. This summary follows the provided date.
The meeting was called to order at 4:02 p.m. and adjourned at 5:11 p.m. Mayor Otto presided. All council members were present. The meeting included public comments, approval of minutes, a current events report, an audit presentation, and discussion of proposed fee changes.
Consent Calendar
- B.1: Approved the Regular Council Meeting Minutes of February 11, 2026, by a unanimous 7-0 vote.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Tom Dunning: Expressed a preference for having town employees seated at the front of the chamber (as was customary) rather than in the gallery, suggesting it shows respect for staff.
- Jeff Robbins: Addressed social media allegations that he disparaged a town employee; denied the claims and stated his right to question government spending and officials, including via email.
- Isaac Blake: Referenced a prior August request (with Charlie Saripin) for an independent forensic audit, council access to place items on the agenda, and an Open Meeting Law compliant town hall. Noted that six months later none of these items have been placed on the agenda despite commitments. Asked the council to publicly address these items.
- Michael Voden: Discussed the issue of missing children, referencing a local teenage runaway case. Requested an update from police. Town Manager Coldwell responded that it is not a town case and information was posted on the town's Facebook page.
Discussion Items
D.1 – Presentation of Annual Town Audit Interim Finance Director Elias Jouen introduced McKay Hall, Senior Partner at Hinton Burdick, who presented the Fiscal Year 2025 audit results.
- Opinion: Unmodified (clean) opinion on financial statements; no material weaknesses in internal controls; two significant deficiencies noted (a document dated differently twice, capital asset allocation issues, and adjustments due to accounting system change).
- Financial Highlights: Total net position $170 million, increase of $12.5 million. Total revenues $56.8 million, total program costs $44.3 million. Governmental fund capital assets increased by $15 million; utility fund long-term debt decreased by $1.3 million.
- Forensic Audit Discussion: In response to council and public concerns, Hall stated the audit found no indications of fraud. He advised against a blanket forensic audit due to cost and intrusiveness, but suggested targeted examinations if specific concerns exist. Council members discussed the possibility of separate financial statements for the water fund (estimated 5-8% additional cost). Hall graded the town's financial health as "reasonable health" given its size.
D.2 – Proposed 26-27 Fee Changes Town Manager Coldwell presented the proposed fee changes, emphasizing that many changes result from bringing services in-house (e.g., engineering plan review) rather than outsourcing, which should reduce turnaround time for contractors from months to weeks.
- Community Development: Fee adjustments to reflect in-house work; no change to Rumsey Park fees.
- Airport: Airport Operations Supervisor Dennis Dueker reported that the Airport Commission recommended not raising hangar fees this year because planned improvements (e.g., doors) were not completed. Discussion on whether hangar fees should be charged by square footage; the commission agreed on a flat rate, though some pilots disagree.
- Next Steps: The fee schedule will be posted online for 60 days, after which a public hearing will be held for formal adoption. No vote was taken at this meeting.
Key Outcomes
- Approved minutes of February 11, 2026 (7-0).
- Received the FY25 audit presentation; no council action required.
- Received the proposed fee changes presentation; no vote taken; public hearing to follow after 60-day posting.
- Mayor Otto announced that beginning in March, personal electronic devices are prohibited on the dais per council policy manual (page 40, item 2A).
Note: No other agenda items were considered (sections E through I were listed as none).
Meeting Transcript
Common council for the town of Payson, regular meeting, February 25th, 2026. I call this meeting to order and ask Jason Redford to do the invocation. Okay. I want to make sure that got the name right. So our kind Father in Heaven, we're grateful to be here today to be in this beautiful town of Payson, Arizona. I'm grateful to enjoy the weather that we've had and enjoy the beauties that we are surrounded by. We have had unseasonably warm weather this winter and pray that we will receive the moisture that we need to preserve life here in this town and the surrounding towns. And we pray for thy grace to be with us. We are grateful for the leaders who lead us and pray that they will be directed by the we pray for our local leaders to do the same, that as decisions are made in this town that they will search for thy will, and that the decisions that are made will be pleasing unto the we are grateful for the sacrifices that have been made on our behalf to be able to sustain the freedoms that we enjoy and we pray that those freedoms will continue as we serve our country as we serve our neighbors. We pray that thou will continue to bless us in all that we have and all that we need. And we say these things in the name of our Savior Jesus Christ, amen. Okay, thank you. As a reminder, it's election season and state law prohibits any town resource, including staff time, equipment, and anything of value to be used to influence an election. This prohibition applies to call to the public. You can talk about a town issue, but please do not advocate for a specific candidate or ballot measure. We appreciate your efforts to help keep the town to help the town comply with the state law and avoid using taxpayer monies to influence an election. As always, call to the public is for issues within the purview of Payson to do anything about. So off we go. Tom Dunning. Mr. May, Town Council and Town staff. Sometimes when you want to make a minor point, you use a more uh extravagant or outrageous or extreme example. Just to get yourself into the vein of where you want to be. So I'm just gonna be outrageous here. Um suppose that you, the members of the town council and the mayor, had to sit in the back row of our chamber here. Would that indicate something uh about the respect due to you or um the uh consideration with which you should be treated? And so once again, I would note that part of this row here is empty and empty here. Um I notice that our town attorney is is over here on this side now. But uh if we look to the back in the back row, uh we have our police representative sitting back there. So just in a common sense sort of way, why can't we have our town representatives, departments heads or whoever they are at this uh, you know, in any uh from any department just here to make a report or uh for um just because they're here. Why can't we have them up here sitting where everybody can see them? You know, just in a common sense sort of way, there's like I see four empty chairs there, I see one, two here. Um I would like to feel that part of supporting our town representatives, the staff who work so hard for us, is that they can be up here. Why not? The chairs are empty, uh, and they're taking seats from uh people in the audience. So it it's I'm the only one who's talking about this, so I'm just a gadfly, right? But why can't we give a little bit of respect to our town staff? I've always said that I think our town staff is one of the best in the in the state, if not the best. They perform so well, and we should just at a minimum let them sit up where people can see them. Thank you. Thank you. Jeff Robbins. Jeff Robbins, Paison, Arizona. Uh thank you for giving me the opportunity to talk. Uh 16,500 residents in the Pacon, Arizona, and Mr. Otto decided to choose me to do a postal media post about uh that was false. Uh I never once disparaged Mr. Greg Martinez once. Uh I didn't even think much about him, actually. I sent an inquiry to the town about a separate line that said Mr.
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