Holbrook City Council members are already looking toward the next election, unanimously approving sending the question of an alternate spending limit to the voters this spring.
The council held a public hearing and special meeting Tuesday night to consider whether the issue should appear on the ballot. There were no comments from the public.
City Manager Ray Alley noted, “This is not a tax increase. It allows us to set our own expenditure limit.”
Also known as “home rule,” if the alternate expenditure limit is approved the city will be able to spend at the limits set by voters rather than those set by the state for the next four years. City Clerk Cher Reyes previously noted that the city has operated under voter-approved home rule for at least the last 12 years, but it was not placed on the 2013 ballot.
“Voters did approve it, but we let it expire and now we’re taking it back to the voters,” she noted.
The state expenditure limit is based on numbers established more than three decades ago and does not take into account actual revenue, but is instead based on a fixed formula. Under that limitation, the city can only spend a certain amount, even if revenues far exceed that amount, and regardless of the need for specific services and improvements.
Home rule allows a city to ask voters to set an expenditure limit based on anticipated revenues and expenditures. It eliminates the state requirement and allows cities to create a budget based on individual needs rather than a one-size-fits-all formula.
“It would let us spend what we earn right now, and we can continue to operate as we are,” Alley said during the meeting.
For the current fiscal year, the city had to ask voters to approve a one-time budget override. It is valid only for this year, and if it had not been approved the city could not have spent as much as planned for street improvements.
According to Reyes, the home rule request can appear on the spring ballot thanks to a successful lawsuit by the Cities of Phoenix and Tucson. State law had sought to limit certain local elections to be held only in conjunction with statewide elections on even-numbered years. The law was successfully challenged, however, so that the city can put the question of home rule to voters in March 2015.
Alley previously explained that if the city must abide by state limits rather than home rule, the number of street and infrastructure improvements would be drastically reduced and cuts in other services might be necessary.
Four city council seats will also be up for grabs in the March election. The terms of Mayor Jeff Hill, Vice Mayor Charles Haussman, and Councilmen Phil Cobb and Bobby Tyler are all expiring.
Council packets will be available for those interested in running for city council beginning Monday, Nov. 10. Candidates must be qualified electors and have physically lived within the city limits of Holbrook for at least two years prior to the election.
The primary election to decide the issue of home rule and select city council members will be held on March 10. If necessary, a general election will be held in May.
