Resident urges Mesa council to open budget process and review Eastmark CFD ongoing taxes
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Summary
A District 6 resident told the council Feb. 24 he wants more opportunity for public input in Mesa’s budget process and raised concerns about perpetual Community Facility District (CFD) taxes in Eastmark and other localized charges.
David Winstanley, a District 6 resident, used the public-comment portion of the Feb. 24 Mesa City Council meeting to ask council members to review the city’s budget process and to examine continuing special taxes tied to Community Facility Districts (CFDs) in Eastmark.
Winstanley said he supports an “open and honest discussion of the necessity of function and the costs of city government” and asked the council to consider procedural changes to allow public input to have an appearance of consideration ahead of final adoption. “I would ask you to examine the process and consider such changes that would permit at least the appearance of consideration of public inputs,” he said, recommending the city consider a study-session special where public input could be heard without a same-day vote.
Winstanley cited the city’s published 12-step budget development process and pointed specifically to steps 10 and 11, which he described as the public-input and final-adoption steps. He told the council that when public comment is heard in the same meeting as a budget vote it gives the perception there is “no chance to change.”
Winstanley raised specific billing concerns tied to Eastmark, saying he and another councilmember must pay an additional roughly $1,250 a year in Eastmark CFD charges and “other special Eastmark taxes.” He said the council, when acting as the CFD board, has authorized bonds to make that tax permanent and asked whether other parts of the city have similar continuing special taxes for infrastructure. He also said residents pay for street lights and street signs in Eastmark and that he confirmed this with the city attorney. “These are just examples of things which are important to us as citizens and why we're asking to look more closely at the budget,” he said.
Winstanley’s comments were delivered during public comment; the council did not take action or provide staff direction on these requests in the public transcript for this meeting.