CC - Agendas - City Council - REGULAR - 7/23/2013

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NMI Prescott City council Regular Voting Meeting — June 25, 2013 Page 13 Mr. Barry said that perception is important. Council will want the .25 percent to continue on and people who vote for that are property owners. Councilman Scamardo asked Mr. Woodfill to explain how much county people would pay just to the fire district. Mr. Woodfill said that it would be $400.00 per year. City Manager McConnell said the county, Yavapai College, and the school district levy the tax bill. He said the property tax increase is from $21.78 to $29.84 per year on a $100,000.00 house. Councilman Lamerson said it is difficult to let people know that in order to have everything the way it should be, the sales tax should perhaps be 12 percent. He said that when the General Fund gets overtaxed by governmental agencies that are out of our control, we are accountable for what the citizens expect. Daniel Mattson, Prescott resident, said that the City is after a more stable base; the property values rise and fall more slowly than sales taxes. With the drop in secondary taxes, there would be a significant decrease in taxes. The budget this year calls for increases in pay for employees if the state does not take the money. He said to pass the budget as it is. Paul Scrivens, Prescott resident, said a 37 percent increase is obscene. He said the secondary tax will go up again when the City purchases the Dells. Councilman Blair asked what the City needs to supply and noted that tradeoffs have to be made. He said that he is taken aback when it is suggested that the City has short changed its citizens when it comes to open space. He said there has to be a willing seller, with a legitimate price, before the City squanders the taxpayer's money. Jim Lawrence, Prescott resident, agreed that it was important not to have over reliance on sales tax, but a proper increase in property tax is needed to have a balance. The .75 percent sales tax was to provide a basis for Prescott being able to take care of itself for streets. New roads were being built for new housing divisions, but the streets maintenance was not good in 1995. In 2000 the tax was expanded to cover both open space and streets. When the City looked at the 2015 expiration of the sales tax, a base level of .75 percent was chosen to support City services, which left .25 percent of the tax to be used for something else. He said that money could be used for other things like public safety and transportation. Councilman Kuknyo said there are two separate issues for open space. He said the Parks and Recreation Department and Joe Baynes, obtain open space at no cost to the City, by working with people who love Prescott and want to share it. He said that the City is pursuing open space and Granite Dells is a different issue. Steve Silvernale, Prescott resident, asked how the City arrived at 37 percent.