In the April 18 issue of The Explorer, reporter Brian Nanos wrote a number of articles that should be of interest to all Oro Valley citizens. (They are all included in today's "LOVE" postings below.)
Let's take them one at a time.
One article's headline reads, "Oro Valley projects $17 million budget shortfall."
Vice Mayor Helen Dankwerth is quoted with the headline: "Realistically, anyone who thinks that we can exist without (a property tax) does not have his feet planted firmly on the ground."
We think Dankwerth, again shows she has a way with words.
In any case, a $17 million projected shortfall, is quite a "shortfall." What we find paradoxical,is a small article in the April 4 issue of The Explorer which quotes Finance Director, Stacy Lemos,(concerning a S & P upgrade of OV Bonds), as follows:
"We are very pleased with this rating,” Finance Director Stacey Lemos said in the release. “This demonstrates that careful fiscal planning and budgeting is paying off for everyone in Oro Valley.”
Question: How does a 17 million shortfall relate to "careful fiscal planning?"
Oh well! The next article addresses the Naranja Park site. The projected cost to build this park has now risen to the amount of $164 million----that's $164,000,000!
This doesn't deter Mayor Paul Loomis. He says: "Right now, I'm a full believer in going for it all." ("All means $164 million worth!)
There is however some good news. After giving away in excess of $50 million of OUR future sales tax revenue to bring us the likes of a Wal-Mart, the council is now suggesting this is not such a good idea after all. Quoting Councilmember Barry Gillaspie, "Vestar probably would have gone in anyway and we're retailed out."
To say, "we tried to tell you so would be self-serving," so, let's just hope the next town council will show some fiscal responsibility, as well as, a little more common sense.
So---- Let's summarize.
We are facing a $17 million shortfall. Dankwerth tells us we don't have our feet planted firmly on the ground concerning a property tax. Lemos tells us careful fiscal planning and budgeting is paying off for everyone in Oro Valley, and our mayor says, let's go for a $164 million park, which, by the way, is estimated to cost an additional few hundred thousand dollars to operate each year.
Oh yeah. Let's not forget; the Utility Tax this council voted for, lead by Dankwerth, kicked in on April 1.
Last important point. March 2008 is election time for three council seats!
Art
Wednesday, April 18, 2007
OV Bond Rating Rises
OV bond rating rises
Explorer Staff
April 4, 2007
Standard and Poor’s has upgraded the rating of Oro Valley’s $17.83 million series 2007 tax revenue refunding bonds to a rating of “AA-.”
According the Standard and Poor’s ratings definitions, the upgrade represents that the town‘s financial security is “very strong” as opposed to “strong.”
In a press release, the town attributed the new rating to strong sales and franchise taxes.
“We are very pleased with this rating,” Finance Director Stacey Lemos said in the release. “This demonstrates that careful fiscal planning and budgeting is paying off for everyone in Oro Valley.”
Explorer Staff
April 4, 2007
Standard and Poor’s has upgraded the rating of Oro Valley’s $17.83 million series 2007 tax revenue refunding bonds to a rating of “AA-.”
According the Standard and Poor’s ratings definitions, the upgrade represents that the town‘s financial security is “very strong” as opposed to “strong.”
In a press release, the town attributed the new rating to strong sales and franchise taxes.
“We are very pleased with this rating,” Finance Director Stacey Lemos said in the release. “This demonstrates that careful fiscal planning and budgeting is paying off for everyone in Oro Valley.”
Vice Mayor Dankwerth Speaks out on OV Budget
Oro Valley projects $17 million budget shortfall
Brian P. Nanos
The Explorer
April 18, 2007
Oro Valley is on pace to lose more than $22 million from its general fund by 2018, according to newly released fiscal projections.
Those projections also indicate the town’s highway fund will suffer a $12 million shortfall over the same time period.
Those figures, included in a long-term financial sustainability plan created by the town’s finance and bond committee, come at a time when town officials are already calling for the town’s first-ever property tax.
The all-volunteer committee will present those numbers to the town council April 25, and will recommend several measures to address the financial situation, including:
Turning control of the library to Pima County.
Charging user fees for use of parks.
Not building the complete municipal operations center planned for Rancho Vistoso Boulevard.
The members will also suggest that town departments be subject to regular outside audits.
However, during the committee’s discussion, the members could not reach a consensus on what taxes, if any, the council should consider raising.
Committee member Chuck Kill, for example, was steadfast in refusing to recommend any more taxes until he saw, program by program, how much money could be cut from existing town departments.
After the finance and bond committee was first presented with the dire 11-year projections, Vice Mayor Helen Dankwerth, the council’s liaison to the committee, said the numbers enforced the idea that the town needs a property tax.
“Realistically, anyone who thinks that we can exist without that does not have his feet planted firmly on the ground,” she said.
Earlier in that week, Mayor Paul Loomis had ended an April 9 Naranja Town Site study session with similar comments. “We are going to have to get there eventually,” he said.
He added, “We’re running out of alternatives, as you all know.”
State law prohibits towns from levying a primary property tax — which would be used to finance day-to-day operations — without voter approval.
Dankwerth told the committee she felt that a property tax would be rejected by voters at least twice before it would eventually pass.
The projections, computed by the town’s finance department, show the general fund starting with a $14 million surplus but losing that surplus by 2016. By 2018, the town’s general fund is $8 million in the red.
The forecast assumes that the town will not annex any lands in that period, and that all commercially zoned real estate will be built by 2010. Much of the falloff in projected income comes after that period, because there would be no new developments to generate tax revenue.
However, even in the 2008 projected budget the town is spending 17 percent more than it earns.
The general fund projections also do not account for the police department’s request to increase the town’s rate of coverage to 2.5 officers per 1000 citizens. If that request is granted, it would cost the town about $1.3 million a year for the next 10 years.
Also presented to the finance and bond committee were projections that saw the town’s highway fund falling $9 million in debt by 2018.
“Frankly, it’s the highway fund I’m worried about most,” said Finance Director Stacy Lemos.
Like the general fund projections, the highway fund projections left out some possible costs: the repaving of some roads and the cost of putting the town’s electrical wiring underground. The creation of the long-term financial sustainability plan was suggested by Councilman Barry Gillaspie after the town increased utility taxes to pay for extra police officers. Gillaspie said the discussion over new taxes would be helped if the town and its citizens had a more compete understanding of their financial situation.
Brian P. Nanos
The Explorer
April 18, 2007
Oro Valley is on pace to lose more than $22 million from its general fund by 2018, according to newly released fiscal projections.
Those projections also indicate the town’s highway fund will suffer a $12 million shortfall over the same time period.
Those figures, included in a long-term financial sustainability plan created by the town’s finance and bond committee, come at a time when town officials are already calling for the town’s first-ever property tax.
The all-volunteer committee will present those numbers to the town council April 25, and will recommend several measures to address the financial situation, including:
Turning control of the library to Pima County.
Charging user fees for use of parks.
Not building the complete municipal operations center planned for Rancho Vistoso Boulevard.
The members will also suggest that town departments be subject to regular outside audits.
However, during the committee’s discussion, the members could not reach a consensus on what taxes, if any, the council should consider raising.
Committee member Chuck Kill, for example, was steadfast in refusing to recommend any more taxes until he saw, program by program, how much money could be cut from existing town departments.
After the finance and bond committee was first presented with the dire 11-year projections, Vice Mayor Helen Dankwerth, the council’s liaison to the committee, said the numbers enforced the idea that the town needs a property tax.
“Realistically, anyone who thinks that we can exist without that does not have his feet planted firmly on the ground,” she said.
Earlier in that week, Mayor Paul Loomis had ended an April 9 Naranja Town Site study session with similar comments. “We are going to have to get there eventually,” he said.
He added, “We’re running out of alternatives, as you all know.”
State law prohibits towns from levying a primary property tax — which would be used to finance day-to-day operations — without voter approval.
Dankwerth told the committee she felt that a property tax would be rejected by voters at least twice before it would eventually pass.
The projections, computed by the town’s finance department, show the general fund starting with a $14 million surplus but losing that surplus by 2016. By 2018, the town’s general fund is $8 million in the red.
The forecast assumes that the town will not annex any lands in that period, and that all commercially zoned real estate will be built by 2010. Much of the falloff in projected income comes after that period, because there would be no new developments to generate tax revenue.
However, even in the 2008 projected budget the town is spending 17 percent more than it earns.
The general fund projections also do not account for the police department’s request to increase the town’s rate of coverage to 2.5 officers per 1000 citizens. If that request is granted, it would cost the town about $1.3 million a year for the next 10 years.
Also presented to the finance and bond committee were projections that saw the town’s highway fund falling $9 million in debt by 2018.
“Frankly, it’s the highway fund I’m worried about most,” said Finance Director Stacy Lemos.
Like the general fund projections, the highway fund projections left out some possible costs: the repaving of some roads and the cost of putting the town’s electrical wiring underground. The creation of the long-term financial sustainability plan was suggested by Councilman Barry Gillaspie after the town increased utility taxes to pay for extra police officers. Gillaspie said the discussion over new taxes would be helped if the town and its citizens had a more compete understanding of their financial situation.
Explorer Reports on Naranja Park Plans
Oro Valley's Naranja park plans still under review
Brian P. Nanos
April 18, 2007
Almost five years after Oro Valley created initial plans for the Naranja Town Site, the town council is still debating how extravagant the park will be.
Mayor Paul Loomis ended an April 9 study session by asking each council member what he would need to see before moving forward with plans to build the proposed 213-acre park.
Loomis said he is worried that if the council didn’t move forward with the plans “we’re still going to be kicking this thing around 10 years from now.”
After the town decides on a plan for the park, voters will dec ide whether to support the bond required to pay for construction.
At the meeting the council reviewed the cost of various construction options. The least expensive option – a basic plan that would include playing fields, courts and trails -- would cost $42 million to build.
The entire park as described in the master plan includes a fitness center, a skate park, a community center, a pool and a water park, a nature center, a BMX track and a dog park. Building that entire park at once would costs the town $164 million.
While Loomis was ready, by the end of the meeting, to ask voters to approve bond funding for the most expensive version — “Right now, I’m a full believer in going for it all,” he said — many of the other council members seemed hesitant to go forward with such a costly project.
“It’s nice to have the whole enchilada,” Councilman Al Kunisch said, “but I don’t think that the town can afford it.”
The first master plan for the site was completed in November 2002, after a 14-month community participation program that included a Web-based survey, group presentations, community workshops and public meetings.
At the April 9 meeting, Vice Mayor Helen Dankwerth worried that the final plan represented unrealistic, unaffordable hopes — “wish lists,” she called them — of the town’s various interest groups.
“We have, in the process, translated these wish lists into necessities, and they’re not,” she said. “I think we have to come back to reality because some of these dreams are turning into hallucinations.”
At the April 9 study session, the council also reviewed estimates for the park’s operating revenues and expenses. According to estimates provided by Webb Management Services, every year the park would cost $936,096 to run and earn $578,773 in rental and hospitality income, program revenues and user fees.
The council also heard a presentation by communications experts who spoke about the possible campaign to pass the bond funding the park would require.
Brian P. Nanos
April 18, 2007
Almost five years after Oro Valley created initial plans for the Naranja Town Site, the town council is still debating how extravagant the park will be.
Mayor Paul Loomis ended an April 9 study session by asking each council member what he would need to see before moving forward with plans to build the proposed 213-acre park.
Loomis said he is worried that if the council didn’t move forward with the plans “we’re still going to be kicking this thing around 10 years from now.”
After the town decides on a plan for the park, voters will dec ide whether to support the bond required to pay for construction.
At the meeting the council reviewed the cost of various construction options. The least expensive option – a basic plan that would include playing fields, courts and trails -- would cost $42 million to build.
The entire park as described in the master plan includes a fitness center, a skate park, a community center, a pool and a water park, a nature center, a BMX track and a dog park. Building that entire park at once would costs the town $164 million.
While Loomis was ready, by the end of the meeting, to ask voters to approve bond funding for the most expensive version — “Right now, I’m a full believer in going for it all,” he said — many of the other council members seemed hesitant to go forward with such a costly project.
“It’s nice to have the whole enchilada,” Councilman Al Kunisch said, “but I don’t think that the town can afford it.”
The first master plan for the site was completed in November 2002, after a 14-month community participation program that included a Web-based survey, group presentations, community workshops and public meetings.
At the April 9 meeting, Vice Mayor Helen Dankwerth worried that the final plan represented unrealistic, unaffordable hopes — “wish lists,” she called them — of the town’s various interest groups.
“We have, in the process, translated these wish lists into necessities, and they’re not,” she said. “I think we have to come back to reality because some of these dreams are turning into hallucinations.”
At the April 9 study session, the council also reviewed estimates for the park’s operating revenues and expenses. According to estimates provided by Webb Management Services, every year the park would cost $936,096 to run and earn $578,773 in rental and hospitality income, program revenues and user fees.
The council also heard a presentation by communications experts who spoke about the possible campaign to pass the bond funding the park would require.
"CLOSING THE BARN DOOR" on EDA's
Oro Valley may stop using incentives to lure new retail businesses
Brian P. Nanos
April 18, 2007
Town officials are questioning if the Oro Valley should continue to give economic incentives to any retail businesses.
By the terms of an agreement made by the town, Vestar Development Co., the developer of Oro Valley Marketplace, will get $23 million in sales tax rebates. However, the deal was only approved after a citizen group challenged it in court and then succeeded in getting the deal put to a citizen vote.
At an April 11 meeting to revise Oro Valley’s policies for giving economic incentives to new businesses, several council members seemed as if they would be hesitant to make that deal again.
Councilman Barry Gillaspie questioned the usefulness of giving incentives to retail developers if “a Vestar probably would have gone in anyway” and, “we’re retailed out.”
Those questions, Councilman K.C. Carter said, “hit a big nail on the head.”
Alluding to Vestar’s promise that the Oro Valley Marketplace would contain high-end retail shops, Vice Mayor Helen Dankwerth added that the town should at least have a way to get some of the incentive money back if the developers don’t fulfill their part of the deal.
At the study session, the council seemed more interested in providing incentives that would attract high-tech businesses to the town. “We get into a Ventana Medical Systems, that may be a whole new ball game,” Gillaspie said in reference to the biomedical company that is one of the town’s largest employers.
However, Economic Development Administrator David Welsh warned that providing incentives is a “big-boy sport.”
“We really don’t have the resources to really play in that game,” he said.
He added that Oro Valley cannot yet afford to match incentives offered by cities like Portland, Ore., or Albuquerque, N.M. He said, the town should instead focus on “setting the stage” to make the town an attractive place to live and work.
If setting the stage is most important, Gillaspie suggested, the money given to the developer of Oro Valley Marketplace would have been better spent on the proposed $151 million Naranja Town Site or other town improvements.
“It’s the quality of life, it’s the police protection,” he said. “And we’re struggling to pay for those things.”
The town has had one policy for providing economic incentives to all businesses, but when that policy comes before the board later this year it will be split into three. One policy will be for high tech businesses that provide high-paying jobs. Another will be for existing retail shops annexed by the town. The third proposed policy will be for future retail stores.
Brian P. Nanos
April 18, 2007
Town officials are questioning if the Oro Valley should continue to give economic incentives to any retail businesses.
By the terms of an agreement made by the town, Vestar Development Co., the developer of Oro Valley Marketplace, will get $23 million in sales tax rebates. However, the deal was only approved after a citizen group challenged it in court and then succeeded in getting the deal put to a citizen vote.
At an April 11 meeting to revise Oro Valley’s policies for giving economic incentives to new businesses, several council members seemed as if they would be hesitant to make that deal again.
Councilman Barry Gillaspie questioned the usefulness of giving incentives to retail developers if “a Vestar probably would have gone in anyway” and, “we’re retailed out.”
Those questions, Councilman K.C. Carter said, “hit a big nail on the head.”
Alluding to Vestar’s promise that the Oro Valley Marketplace would contain high-end retail shops, Vice Mayor Helen Dankwerth added that the town should at least have a way to get some of the incentive money back if the developers don’t fulfill their part of the deal.
At the study session, the council seemed more interested in providing incentives that would attract high-tech businesses to the town. “We get into a Ventana Medical Systems, that may be a whole new ball game,” Gillaspie said in reference to the biomedical company that is one of the town’s largest employers.
However, Economic Development Administrator David Welsh warned that providing incentives is a “big-boy sport.”
“We really don’t have the resources to really play in that game,” he said.
He added that Oro Valley cannot yet afford to match incentives offered by cities like Portland, Ore., or Albuquerque, N.M. He said, the town should instead focus on “setting the stage” to make the town an attractive place to live and work.
If setting the stage is most important, Gillaspie suggested, the money given to the developer of Oro Valley Marketplace would have been better spent on the proposed $151 million Naranja Town Site or other town improvements.
“It’s the quality of life, it’s the police protection,” he said. “And we’re struggling to pay for those things.”
The town has had one policy for providing economic incentives to all businesses, but when that policy comes before the board later this year it will be split into three. One policy will be for high tech businesses that provide high-paying jobs. Another will be for existing retail shops annexed by the town. The third proposed policy will be for future retail stores.
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