Mon. April 27 Oro Valley Council Special Session--Police Budget

This Monday night at 5:30 PM, there will be one more OV Council Special Session in which the people will be heard. Please try to attend, and if willing, have your voice heard.

You can be sure the police who have a critical stake on the following two items, will turn out and address the council.

At this point, we do not know the outcome of Bill Garner's proposal he presented to the council this past Wed. We were pleased to hear the police union thought there was enough merit in the proposal, to want to discuss it further. That is a good thing----but why wouldn't they? After all, the crux of Bill's proposal was the transfer of a few personnel to other departments, cutting back on certain expenditures, but NOT losing any officers to layoffs.

Every resident, every council member and every police officer should be thankful for the extraordinary work done by our friend & neighbor, John Musolf, whose valuable input was a major factor in the new proposal.

Following are the two items to be discussed. (Not to make light of it, but there will also discussion and possible action regarding increasing Summer Camp Program Fees.)

Discussion and possible action regarding the Use of Take-Home Vehicles by Oro Valley Police Department Personnel

Discussion and possible action on alternative budget proposals regarding the Oro Valley Police Department’s FY 2009-2010 Budget

Thanks To Salette Latas For Her Oro Valley Poll

Council Member Latas has done a service for the community in soliciting opinions from ONLY Oro Valley residents on ways to save costs and/or generate revenue. The poll was answered by 400 residents, and cost the town nothing.

You are all welcome to offer opinions on Salette's poll results.

Following are the results of her poll.
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Which of the following cost-saving or revenue-generating measures is acceptable to you? Check all that apply. (Estimated revenue is shown in parentheses.)

Eliminate the Oro Valley Vista ($.1 million) 72.1%

Eliminate funding to outside agencies ($.5 million) 64.1%

Use bed tax revenues previously earmarked for other uses ($.2 - .5 million)59.3%

Turn Library operations over to County Library District ($.7 million) 58.3%

Adopt 2% local rental tax ($1.1 million) 47.2%

Other (please specify) 46.0%

Increase local retail sales tax by .25% ($1.2 million) 30.4%

Increase utility tax to 4% ($1.2 million) 22.6%

Levy a primary property tax of $.34/$100 Assessed Value ($1.7 million) 20.6%

Increase local retail sales tax by .50% ($2.4 million) 17.6%

Seek voter approval for 5% gas/electric franchise fee ($2.4 million) 17.3%

Adopt a 1% sales tax on food for home consumption ($1.75 million) 7.3%