Payson holds first budget work session; water system, public safety staffing and finance take center stage
January 07, 2025 | Payson, Gila County, Arizona
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The Town of Payson convened a budget-focused work session in which department directors briefed the mayor and council on operating budgets, capital-improvement projects and staffing needs across the town. Presentations by the water department, finance staff and public-safety leaders drew the most detailed discussion and prompted council requests for follow-up briefings.
The session matters because several departments described multi‑million‑dollar capital programs and ongoing obligations that will shape the 2025–26 budget cycle. Council members asked for deeper briefings on the public-safety pension liability and on how the town manages invested reserves, signaling potential priorities for upcoming budget hearings.
Water department director Tanner told council the water enterprise has a roughly $10 million operating budget and an $18 million capital budget for large projects and said the utility is operated as a self‑sustaining enterprise fund. He described the system’s scale and age — roughly 200 miles of distribution pipe, production wells, two treatment plants and about 9.3 million gallons of storage — and said the town still relies on both groundwater and the CC Cragin source when available. Tanner said it currently costs about $20.30 to produce 1,000 gallons and that the town should be replacing roughly 3.3 miles of mainline per year to maintain the system, a level he estimated would require about $8 million annually.
Tanner highlighted several capital priorities: replacement of older mains in town (one project covering Ridge Street and a corridor near Arrow Drive), a Hillcrest storage tank replacement planned for spring, a remote automated meter reading project described as a $4.0 million package with a $1.0 million town match, and forthcoming PFAS (per‑ and polyfluoroalkyl substances) treatment work being coordinated with ADEQ and the U.S. EPA. He said some pipes are as old as 75 years and that a 2011 master plan identified priority mains and fire‑flow shortfalls. Council members pressed for the town’s planned annual replacement rate vs. actual replacements and for more detail on funding timing.
On finance, Dana Ohanzian, finance director, reviewed the town’s cash structure and capital plan and demonstrated the town’s online transparency tool. She described the town’s two primary cash vehicles: a Chase operating account for daily transactions and the state Local Government Investment Pool (LGIP), which serves as a longer‑term liquidity and interest‑earning account. Ohanzian and staff said a large share of state‑collected revenues flows to the LGIP and is transferred to the operating account as needed. She showed the town’s ClearGov transparency portal (including digital budget books, a checkbook ledger and active/completed CIP listings) and described the town’s long‑term liabilities: several WIFA loans for water projects, equipment leases and sizable actuarial unfunded liabilities for the public‑safety retirement systems (PSPRS) and other post‑employment benefits.
Several council members asked for follow‑up presentations specific to: (1) PSPRS/unfunded pension liabilities and the town’s repayment policy; (2) LGIP account details and how much of the LGIP balance is restricted vs. available; and (3) a midyear budget review. Finance staff agreed to schedule those briefings during the remaining monthly work sessions.
Public safety and equipment lead times were another focal point. Commander Josh Haines said the police department’s operating budget for 2024–25 is about $11.4 million with 58 full‑time positions; staffing vacancies and the long outfitting timeline for new patrol vehicles (he said nine to 18 months) make fleet availability a recruiting and deployment issue. Council and staff discussed whether to buy used outfitted vehicles (staff said used, outfitted police vehicles are usually poor value) and the longer useful life the department expects from take‑home vehicles (five to six years).
Fire Chief Dave Stobbe described the department’s operating budget at about $9.6 million, 38 full‑time firefighters and minimum daily staffing requirements. He explained unique scheduling and overtime dynamics tied to firefighter work rules (24‑hour shifts, 106 hours in 14 days before overtime) and said the department has placed orders for a replacement Type 1 engine and a ladder truck, but that lead times remain long (Stobbe said approximately 44 months for a new ladder truck). He noted ongoing capital work: a refurbished water tender and other equipment purchases and that the department continues to conduct business fire‑safety inspections under a grant.
Other department highlights and figures presented:
- Clerk’s office: staffing of full‑time clerk, senior deputy clerk and part‑time support; Title 9 and Title 16 of the Arizona Revised Statutes were cited as the legal basis for clerk and election duties; short‑term rental licensing (76 licenses processed as of Nov. 1, producing roughly $19,000) and business licensing activity (about 315 licenses generating $76,964 and requiring ~25 staff hours weekly) were detailed.
- Public works/engineering: an overall public‑works operation the presenters said is roughly $14.6 million with a $40 million CIP and 43 FTEs; engineering division reported five full‑time budgeted positions with current vacancies and multiple ongoing road and drainage CIPs (Granite Dells Road, Airport Road pavement preservation, Longhorn/McLean roundabout, Houston Mesa non‑motorized work, Green Valley Parkway extension and several drainage projects including American Gulch).
- Airport: the Payson Airport coordinator described an upcoming ADOT runway overlay matched by a town payment of 10% of a $1.3 million project and noted 86 based aircraft and year‑to‑date operations trends.
- IT and transparency: IT director Jeff Benedict reviewed technology projects (network modernization, consolidation of the primary data center into police facility, ERP selection for finance and HR, CityWorks permitting rollout and a new telephone system) and said IT handled 1,599 help‑desk tickets in 2024. He and finance staff said the ClearGov transparency portal cost roughly $29,000 per year, with only a portion dedicated to the public‑facing transparency module; staff will seek to remove an unused module to reduce the next invoice.
The mayor and council closed the session by asking staff to schedule the requested deep dives (PSPRS liabilities, LGIP account detail and midyear budget review) at future scheduled work sessions and confirmed the series of monthly budget work sessions will continue through the spring.
The meeting concluded with the mayor adjourning the work session.
The session matters because several departments described multi‑million‑dollar capital programs and ongoing obligations that will shape the 2025–26 budget cycle. Council members asked for deeper briefings on the public-safety pension liability and on how the town manages invested reserves, signaling potential priorities for upcoming budget hearings.
Water department director Tanner told council the water enterprise has a roughly $10 million operating budget and an $18 million capital budget for large projects and said the utility is operated as a self‑sustaining enterprise fund. He described the system’s scale and age — roughly 200 miles of distribution pipe, production wells, two treatment plants and about 9.3 million gallons of storage — and said the town still relies on both groundwater and the CC Cragin source when available. Tanner said it currently costs about $20.30 to produce 1,000 gallons and that the town should be replacing roughly 3.3 miles of mainline per year to maintain the system, a level he estimated would require about $8 million annually.
Tanner highlighted several capital priorities: replacement of older mains in town (one project covering Ridge Street and a corridor near Arrow Drive), a Hillcrest storage tank replacement planned for spring, a remote automated meter reading project described as a $4.0 million package with a $1.0 million town match, and forthcoming PFAS (per‑ and polyfluoroalkyl substances) treatment work being coordinated with ADEQ and the U.S. EPA. He said some pipes are as old as 75 years and that a 2011 master plan identified priority mains and fire‑flow shortfalls. Council members pressed for the town’s planned annual replacement rate vs. actual replacements and for more detail on funding timing.
On finance, Dana Ohanzian, finance director, reviewed the town’s cash structure and capital plan and demonstrated the town’s online transparency tool. She described the town’s two primary cash vehicles: a Chase operating account for daily transactions and the state Local Government Investment Pool (LGIP), which serves as a longer‑term liquidity and interest‑earning account. Ohanzian and staff said a large share of state‑collected revenues flows to the LGIP and is transferred to the operating account as needed. She showed the town’s ClearGov transparency portal (including digital budget books, a checkbook ledger and active/completed CIP listings) and described the town’s long‑term liabilities: several WIFA loans for water projects, equipment leases and sizable actuarial unfunded liabilities for the public‑safety retirement systems (PSPRS) and other post‑employment benefits.
Several council members asked for follow‑up presentations specific to: (1) PSPRS/unfunded pension liabilities and the town’s repayment policy; (2) LGIP account details and how much of the LGIP balance is restricted vs. available; and (3) a midyear budget review. Finance staff agreed to schedule those briefings during the remaining monthly work sessions.
Public safety and equipment lead times were another focal point. Commander Josh Haines said the police department’s operating budget for 2024–25 is about $11.4 million with 58 full‑time positions; staffing vacancies and the long outfitting timeline for new patrol vehicles (he said nine to 18 months) make fleet availability a recruiting and deployment issue. Council and staff discussed whether to buy used outfitted vehicles (staff said used, outfitted police vehicles are usually poor value) and the longer useful life the department expects from take‑home vehicles (five to six years).
Fire Chief Dave Stobbe described the department’s operating budget at about $9.6 million, 38 full‑time firefighters and minimum daily staffing requirements. He explained unique scheduling and overtime dynamics tied to firefighter work rules (24‑hour shifts, 106 hours in 14 days before overtime) and said the department has placed orders for a replacement Type 1 engine and a ladder truck, but that lead times remain long (Stobbe said approximately 44 months for a new ladder truck). He noted ongoing capital work: a refurbished water tender and other equipment purchases and that the department continues to conduct business fire‑safety inspections under a grant.
Other department highlights and figures presented:
- Clerk’s office: staffing of full‑time clerk, senior deputy clerk and part‑time support; Title 9 and Title 16 of the Arizona Revised Statutes were cited as the legal basis for clerk and election duties; short‑term rental licensing (76 licenses processed as of Nov. 1, producing roughly $19,000) and business licensing activity (about 315 licenses generating $76,964 and requiring ~25 staff hours weekly) were detailed.
- Public works/engineering: an overall public‑works operation the presenters said is roughly $14.6 million with a $40 million CIP and 43 FTEs; engineering division reported five full‑time budgeted positions with current vacancies and multiple ongoing road and drainage CIPs (Granite Dells Road, Airport Road pavement preservation, Longhorn/McLean roundabout, Houston Mesa non‑motorized work, Green Valley Parkway extension and several drainage projects including American Gulch).
- Airport: the Payson Airport coordinator described an upcoming ADOT runway overlay matched by a town payment of 10% of a $1.3 million project and noted 86 based aircraft and year‑to‑date operations trends.
- IT and transparency: IT director Jeff Benedict reviewed technology projects (network modernization, consolidation of the primary data center into police facility, ERP selection for finance and HR, CityWorks permitting rollout and a new telephone system) and said IT handled 1,599 help‑desk tickets in 2024. He and finance staff said the ClearGov transparency portal cost roughly $29,000 per year, with only a portion dedicated to the public‑facing transparency module; staff will seek to remove an unused module to reduce the next invoice.
The mayor and council closed the session by asking staff to schedule the requested deep dives (PSPRS liabilities, LGIP account detail and midyear budget review) at future scheduled work sessions and confirmed the series of monthly budget work sessions will continue through the spring.
The meeting concluded with the mayor adjourning the work session.
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