The Town of Chino Valley, like other communities in our area, has been working on our budget for fiscal year 2020-2021. The town, as an organization, is an always-evolving entity adjusting to its environment. We continue to work toward a strong foundation for our community, with sustainable programs, policies and revenue sources.
This year’s budget will appear fairly similar to last year’s budget, as revenues have been optimistic; but we retain our conservative and cautious approach to finances. The town continues to provide more detail in its department budgets, offering opportunities for people to compare our community to others within the great state of Arizona or elsewhere. We invite you to view the budget at chinoaz.net.
Our Enterprise funds of Sewer and Water continue a healthy climb toward sustainability as the town capitalizes on opportunities for expanding its infrastructure footprint. In the last several years, we have seen the enterprise funds become healthier and healthier, providing the opportunity to stabilize rate increases and begin planning for capital improvements. We are funding a water master plan for Old Home Manor in an effort to use our water more responsibly and provide the ability to create some redundancy in our utility system. We will continue to pursue opportunities to extend sewer and water where it makes financial or economic sense within Chino Valley.
On the horizon, there are positive changes for Chino’s future through wise decisions by our Town Council. A recent agreement with the City of Prescott will provide an opportunity for businesses or landowners along Highway 89 to access Prescott water lines that run parallel to Chino Valley’s business corridor. This will allow the town to focus on its sewer system with commercial customers and the investment they made in the wastewater treatment plant. The town, celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, will hold a large birthday celebration at Memory Park. Residents attending the celebration will experience some of the positive changes made to the park’s amenities, enjoying the new playground area and the new restrooms. Additionally, we are looking at unfunded liability with the Public Safety Retirement System and continuing to pay down our debt there. These decisions, along with others, continue to reinforce the foundation for making our community a great place to live.
With the addition of an economic development position in the last year, some items at the Business Park at Old Home Manor may begin to take shape. Signage for the park, as well as a natural gas line and a few lots prepped with infrastructure, will begin to give potential investors a visual of the potential for the 200-acre future employment center, a priority of the council set many years ago. As the council views the entire Old Home Manor area and works on the bones for a strategic plan, staff will be working on other recreational activities to support or complement existing ones. There is consideration of a privately run 40-plus acre recreational-vehicle (RV) park, offering amenities to our community and to the other uses located there. These investments into Old Home Manor should round out the community by offering recreational, educational and employment opportunities.
Despite the pandemic, the economy continues to improve and housing valuations are beginning to climb again. Construction activity continues to be strong, although we did see a slight decrease in the current fiscal year. Residential permits continue to be the majority of permits issued, and we continue to see developers interested in our community. The town is hopeful that commercial development will follow the rooftops.
Probably the biggest challenge facing the community is developing a firm funding source for our roads. An election was held this last fiscal year for a proposed property tax to provide a permanent funding source for road maintenance. Although the voters did not support the initiative and it failed, the maintenance of our 150+ miles continues to be a priority for our council and community. Council will use general fund dollars to supplement the maintenance costs while continuing to work with staff and the community on a more permanent, sustainable road funding solution.
The town endeavors to be as transparent as possible, utilizing multiple mechanisms for communication. The public is always invited to council meetings where budget, expenditures, land use and ordinances are discussed and adopted. We have added additional avenues for communication in our efforts of transparency and we welcome your respectful input. The community belongs to all of us and the council appreciates the input from our citizenry. QCBN
By Darryl Croft
Darryl Croft is the mayor of Chino Valley.
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