Sedona council previews FY27 capital projects, staff flags $33.9 million total appropriation

City of Sedona budget staff on Wednesday walked the City Council through a preview of FY27 capital improvement projects and decision packages, telling council members the packet now shows roughly $33.9 million in total appropriations, including about $27.1 million in carryover from prior years and $6.6 million in new appropriations for FY27.

Sterling West, the city’s budget and investments manager, said the packet’s summary shows a total “$33,900,000 with the carryover of PDO2,” and later clarified that the handout’s carryover line reflects previously approved multi‑year projects rather than unspent amounts alone. “The total amount of carryover is actually 27,100,000, and the new appropriation this year is 6,600,000,” West said.

Why it matters: the carryover numbers affect how councilors view the effective size of the current year’s spending versus money already committed to multi‑year projects. Council members pressed staff to make the slide labels clearer so the public and council could readily distinguish carryover from new appropriations and asked staff to show percentages of total for visual context.

Staff overview and timelines Sterling told council that the meeting was a high‑level review and that staff will return with greater detail after the Citizens Budget Work Group meeting on Feb. 25 and department reviews in early March. He outlined the budget calendar leading to an April 15 presentation of the overall budget picture and subsequent April work sessions.

The staff packet breaks CIP categories into line items including wastewater, parks and recreation, police, public transit, Sedona In Motion and other projects. West cited the largest single FY27 project as a $3.5 million wastewater treatment process upgrade and noted wastewater projects totaling roughly $8.8 million in the list.

Council questions and clarifications Councilors probed whether slide totals assume successful grant awards. West said the figures shown reflect expenditure line items the city will record; pass‑through grants the city receives are included, but grants that do not flow through city accounts are not reflected. He pointed the council to a funding‑source summary in the packet that lists $3.2 million as grant‑funded for the projects shown.

Councilor (name on roll) also asked about staff terminology after noticing a difference between a slide labeled “carryover” and the handout’s funding status: staff acknowledged the wording needed to change and said they would update the slide to read “total appropriation” where appropriate.

What was not decided This work session was a high‑level preview; council did not take formal votes on projects or decision packages Wednesday. Staff said decision packages will be refined after input from the Citizens Budget Work Group and the city manager’s office before returning to council for policy direction.

Next steps Staff scheduled follow‑up reviews with the Citizens Budget Work Group on Feb. 25 and department and city manager reviews in early March, with a general budget picture presented on April 15 and further work sessions later in April. Sterling said staff aim to bring more detailed decision‑package materials after those reviews.

Funding and contingencies Among FY27 items flagged in the packet, Sterling noted an ongoing $2,000,000 contingency for affordable housing that staff built into the FY27 proposal; council members asked for that to be discussed further when the housing strategy presentation appears on a future agenda.

— Reporting in this article is based on the Feb. 11 City of Sedona council work session presentation and discussion, as recorded in the council transcript.