By L. Parsons The Winslow City Council was presented with the tentative budget for fiscal year 2020-21 last week. In the absence of Mayor Tom McCauley who has missed the last two meetings and Councilwoman Judy Howell, the council approved the budget, which is expected to remain basically the same as it travels through the budget approval process. In the budget presentation, City Manager John Barkley said, “In trying to put together estimates, we are trying to be as conservative as we can, given the world we live in today. We are bracing for shortfalls but endeavor to build fund balances going in the right direction. That is going to happen because of the conservative look we took at our revenues and expenditures. We want to stay as lean and mean as we can and still provide the services that our community needs.” Estimated revenues for 2021 are $22 million. Expenditures are estimated to be $26 million, a difference of $4 million. Police, wastewater and the airport are the largest expenditures expected for the city, which is typical, according to Barkley. City sales tax, urban revenue sharing and federal grants make up the largest revenue sources. In his status updates, Barkley mentioned the continued reduction of in-person services at city buildings. “In our city, we are trying our very best to keep our services going. We are continuing to encourage telephonic communication when it comes to city business for the health and safety of our citizens. Our library remains closed but they are doing curbside service and providing WiFi. Barkley noted that the city pool is now open. “We are providing cleaning, sanitization and other precautions in our city facilities. We are going to start bringing back meetings of our committees starting this week through the telephone. We are all about keeping the machine running, even though it’s not the same.” He went on to explain that the city should be receiving over $1 million in money from the CARES (Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security) Act. “We are still knocking on the door of the governor regarding the percent disparity in distribution of that money. It is a 65 percent difference between what rural communities get and what the machine down in Phoenix received. We have had no explanation of why this happened.” Barkley updated the council on the process of hiring a police chief. “We received 16 applications and we have whittled it down to about five that we believe will be good. Next week we will start forming a committee to conduct the interviews.” Standin’ On The Corner Foundation representative Dr. Greg Hackler reminded the council that the annual Standin’ On The Corner Festival had been cancelled. The foundation, however, is moving forward with fundraisers to help restore the mural located at the corner of Second Street and Kinsley Avenue. The mural, originally painted by John Pugh, has been in a state of restoration for the last few years. Hackler said, “We signed a contract in 2017 to restore the mural. It needed and continues to need some structural restoration, as well as the artist’s restoration.” The undertaking has been and continues to be expensive. In order to help offset the cost, the foundation is selling bricks to place in the park. The bricks are available for sale at www.standinonthecorner.org and can be personalized. The council also heard a presentation from Local First Arizona representative Kimber Lanning. Lanning invited small business owners to contact Local First Arizona so that they may find assistance in reviving their business in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. The group provides resources to business owners, which include pivoting business models to transition in to new revenue streams as well as access to capital. According to Lanning, the economic impact of the pandemic is not yet known. “We do know that our small businesses will be most affected. It is our goal to not only save our local businesses but to see them thrive.” Business owners are encouraged to contact www.localfirstazfoundation.org for information on how to obtain assistance. The next meeting of the Winslow City Council will be at 6:30 p.m. on Monday, July 27, at the Hubbell Building, located at 523 W. Second St. Facial coverings and physical distancing is required.
