The Sedona City Council voted to reappoint Kathy Sensman of Policy Development Group as the city's contract lobbyist for the 2026 Arizona legislative session, approving an agreement not to exceed $100,000 to cover advocacy and related services.

Sensman summarized interim outreach to municipal and county leaders and said the office has worked to broaden the message on short-term-rental concerns beyond anecdote. "We've been pushing the narrative about the plight of rural Arizona," Sensman said, describing outreach to mayors, county assessors and trade groups to raise awareness and encourage legislators to take committee action on bills that would allow local controls such as numeric caps or taxation parity with hotels.

City staff and Sensman also discussed the state fiscal picture: Sensman flagged a constrained discretionary balance in the three-year state budget outlook and the potential fiscal impact of federal tax-law changes and SNAP/benefit adjustments. She cautioned council staff to watch state budget negotiations and noted that long-running issues such as school facility funding and SNAP error-rate impacts compete for limited discretionary dollars.

Councilors directed staff and the lobbyist to prioritize:

- local control or pilot options on short-term rentals and engagement with rural mayors and county assessors;
- monitoring of PFAS and water-infrastructure funding opportunities raised earlier in the meeting; and
- tracking state budget developments that could affect municipal shared revenue.

Motion and vote: Councilor [motion maker not specified in transcript] moved to appoint Kathy Sensman as city lobbyist for the 2026 Arizona legislative session, with an agreement subject to city-manager and city-attorney approval and a not-to-exceed amount of $100,000. The motion was seconded; the voice vote was unanimous in favor (6-0). Present at roll call: Mayor Ploog, Vice Mayor Fultz, Councilors Dunne, Furman, Kinsella and Pfaff.

Speakers (attributed): Kathy Sensman, Policy Development Group; Lauren (city staff); Scott (city staff).