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City manager reports demolition, road and grant delays; warns of possible $3.7M food-tax hit
Summary
City Manager briefed the Sierra Vista City Council on imminent demolition and construction projects, potential sewer-related road closures, and delays or pauses to federal grants. He also flagged a state resolution, HCR 2021, that could eliminate municipal food tax and cost the city an estimated $3.7 million in general fund revenue.
City Manager told the Sierra Vista City Council on Monday that the on-call demolition contract has been awarded to Cat Claw Constructors and that demolition of the Supreme Court (formerly Kings Court) building will begin Feb. 18.
The City Manager said the Martin Luther King Jr. Reconstruction project, from Avenida Escuela to State Route 90, was awarded to KNG and is scheduled to begin in April to coordinate with an Arizona Department of Transportation project. He warned there is "an issue with a sewer line that I still have to have a meeting on that might require, road closure out there," and said staff will try to mitigate closures.
The manager reported progress on active pedestrian projects: the multi-use path connectivity design is underway with Wilson and Company, and shared-use path work began Feb. 3. He also said the animal control center is under construction.
On state and federal funding, the City Manager told the council the Arizona Legislature is considering HCR 2021, a resolution to put elimination of the municipal food tax on the 2026 general-election ballot with an effective date of July 1, 2027. "Assuming that this makes it to the ballot and assuming that the good folks of Arizona vote to reduce their taxes, then we would have to deal with about a $3,700,000 loss in general fund revenue on top of the $500,000 loss we're now experiencing for the rental tax," he said, adding that combined the change represents roughly 6.7% of the city's general fund budget.
He also said several federal grants affecting Sierra Vista are delayed or paused: FAA pavement repair funding is delayed due to staffing shortages at the agency; grants tied to SPRINCA/adaptive management and the America the Beautiful program are on pause; and Department of Energy funding for e-bike chargers nationwide has been put on hold. City staff said they are monitoring the situation.
No formal council action on these items was recorded in the meeting transcript.
