Sedona council adopts $103.46 million tentative budget after heated debate over salary study implementation

Sedona — The Sedona City Council unanimously approved a tentative city budget that sets the fiscal‑year spending limit at $103,457,496 after a lengthy public meeting that centered on whether to fully implement a recent salary market study.

The council voted to set the tentative expenditure limit after hearing a budget presentation from Barbara Whitehorn, the city’s director of financial services, and a detailed briefing on a citywide salary study from Russ (staff/consultant). Whitehorn said the tentative budget “sets the limit for the next fiscal year” and warned the council it could reduce the figure later but could not increase it after tentative adoption.

Council debate focused on how much of the salary‑survey recommendations to fund this year. The study provided three rough options for implementation: the placeholder amount staff had originally budgeted at about $1.3 million; a partial phase‑in capped at a 7% adjustment (roughly $685,000); or full implementation to move affected positions to market (about $900,000). Russ and Whitehorn told the council the 7% cap would cover many positions but that roughly 50 employees were still substantially below market and the difference between the two…