Payson Town Hall

Payson to raise property tax

As local districts ponder raising their property tax rates to bolster sagging budgets, Payson will discuss raising its rate Tuesday.

Payson codes contradictory, outdated

When a citizen asked the Payson Town Council why it wasn’t enforcing part of its tree code in April, Town Attorney Tim Wright realized the elderly ordinance was virtually unenforceable — and so were a host of other sections in the town code

Rim Country’s recovery continues to lag behind state

Payson’s economy continues to lag well behind the state and the nation, according to the May financial tracking report released by the town.

‘Scared to death’

Mayor worried about impact of state sales tax changes

Payson Mayor Kenny Evans says he’s “scared to death” about the town’s budget prospects, especially with a proposed state overhaul of the sales tax still unresolved.

Payson confirms fire marshal cut

The Payson Town Council Tuesday confirmed budget plans to eliminate the fire marshal’s job, but restored funding for the fire reserves.

Rim Country jobs: Bruised, battered — still hurting

No wonder we’re hurting. The consultant’s report prepared for the overhaul of Payson’s General Plan has finally put numbers to the region’s economic struggles in the past four years.

APS smart meters frighten protesters

Health effects, government eavesdropping spook crowd

A crush of people alarmed about the imminent installation of “smart meters” crowded the Payson Town Council meeting last week, hoping to convince the town to pass a resolution opposing the automated transmitters that intermittently send information on electricity use to Arizona Public Service.

New ‘milestones’ in land purchase

But costs, delays spur talk of alternatives to FS site

They want to sell us the land. Really. Badly — just not quickly. That’s the mixed message that emerged about the Rim Country Educational Alliance’s struggle to buy 260 acres of land from the U.S. Forest Service for a 6,000-student university campus and various spinoff facilities.

Public pays dearly for copies of public records

Officials charge $8 for report, citing law requiring ‘reasonable’ charges for copies of public documents

Should a citizen have pay $8 to make a copy of a two-page police report? Sounds outrageous, but agencies across the county and the state are charging more and more for copies of public records.

Storage rules cause dust-up between town, business

Police department is in violation of proposed ordinance

Payson’s effort to loosen limits on big storage containers instead triggered contradictions and complaints — and the discovery that the police department is among the leading violators.

Metal storage unit rules loosened

Residents could soon lawfully keep metal storage containers in their yards after the Payson Town Council took the first step to loosen regulations at a recent meeting.

Payson economy stuck in first gear

Payson’s economy remains stubbornly stuck in first gear, lagging behind the economic recovery that has seemingly set in elsewhere in the sta

Gila County hit hardest by ADOT’s cuts to five-year plan

he Payson Town Council has objected vehemently to the Arizona Department of Transportation’s plan to drop plans to widen Highway 260 on the way up to the Rim.

Some question value of general plan process

Payson hires a $200,000 consultant to help develop another plan for the future

With existing plans gathering dust and years of meetings without progress on projects like revitalizing Main Street, some Payson residents have started to question the value of the expensive and time-consuming overhaul of the town’s general pla