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Council approves El Tour de Tucson sponsorship, adds reimbursement cap for police support
Summary
Sahuarita approved a two-year (2025–2026) sponsorship and services agreement with El Tour de Tucson; the town will provide in-kind support and up to $50,000 in reimbursable expenditures to offset public safety costs, plus a proposed charitable-donation share for the town.
The Sahuarita Town Council voted to approve a 2025–2026 sponsorship and services agreement with El Tour de Tucson, a large regional bicycling event, during its Sept. 8 meeting. The event typically routes through multiple jurisdictions and draws thousands of cyclists; the town has hosted Aid Station Number 6 at Quail Creek Veterans Municipal Park and staffed traffic and viewing locations in prior years.
Parks and Recreation Director Devin Stalder and planning staff negotiated terms with Perimeter Bicycling Association of America, El Tour’s parent organization, to make the event more equitable for the town. Under the agreement the town will provide $5,000 in in‑kind services each from Parks & Recreation and Public Works (standard support the town already provides). For police support, the contract establishes up to $50,000 in reimbursable expenditures to help cover officer staffing and related costs.
Stalder told the council the town doesn’t typically capture sales-tax tourism gains from El Tour because riders usually do not use local hotels and restaurants when the route passes through Sahuarita. To create local benefit, the town negotiated a provision to receive 8% of El Tour’s charitable donations attributed to the town route; staff said the dollar impact is not yet known but that the arrangement would create a recurring community benefit and could be used to fund local charities.
The council moved and seconded a motion to approve the contract; the motion carried without recorded opposition. The clerk recorded the outcome as approved.
Why it matters: El Tour is a high-profile regional event that requires significant public-safety and public-works resources. The new reimbursable cap and donation-sharing clause were designed to offset municipal costs and produce a direct benefit for the town when the event passes through Sahuarita.
Councilmembers praised staff for negotiating greater equity and for capturing potential charitable proceeds. No change to the event route or town responsibilities was made at the meeting beyond contractual approval.
