In June 2012, the Oro Valley Town Council approved a withdrawal from the General Fund of $524,000 to help pay for cost overrides at the Aquatic Center. This money was to be paid back with annual installments of $35,000 from the Bed Tax Fund.
Fast-forward to 2018. Town Manager, Mary Jacobs (with Council approval) combined the Bed Tax Fund into the General Fund. Doing this eliminated the accountability of staff to ensure that the annual $35,000 reimbursement commitment is completed.
Town Archives, March 2015
On March 4, 2015, the Town Council approved a sales tax increase with this increase dedicated to the new Community Center and Golf Fund. (The name was later changed to the Community Center Fund). The Council Report reads, “… staff recommends Council consideration and approval of a budget amendment to establish a new, separate fund to account for the operations of these facilities. This new fund, called the Community Center and Golf Fund, will account for all revenues and expenses generated by the operations of these facilities.”
Fast-forward to 2019. In the Town Manager’s Recommended Budget for FY 2019/20, Jacobs is proposing to abolish the CCF and combine it into the General Fund. Doing this will eliminate all accountability regarding the expenditures of the “dedicated” half-cent sales tax. It will eliminate the monthly report which shows the revenues and expenditures regarding the Golf/Community Center. The Council should not allow this. The CCF allows for transparency and shows us exactly what it going on.
Examples of why combining funds is a bad idea
Do you think we would have discovered that the Town pays nothing for utilities, the extent of the golf losses, the lease contracts, etc. if this was all combined within the General Fund? The CCF owes the General Fund $120,000 a year (for 10 years) to pay back the $1.2 million loan that was used to start the Community Center Fund in 2015. Will this payback happen if they are combined into one fund? How would we know?
Next up, combining the Highway Fund into the General Fund
Jacobs also wants to combine the Highway Fund into the General Fund. Will this allow for highway money to be spent for soccer fields? Keeping these funds separate makes staff accountable and allows for transparency in town spending. We can see where the revenues are generated and where the money is spent.
We are not like most cities
Jacobs tells us that this is the way most cities do business. Oro Valley is not like most cities. We desire to keep an eye on our money…where it comes from and where it goes. Combining these funds into the less restrictive General Fund would be a huge mistake.
