Busted budget
State sweeps prompt Payson to consider layoffs
The Payson council held an emotional, emergency budget session on Tuesday to grapple with a projected $721,000 deficit for the fiscal year that starts in July. Continued raids on local funds by the state Legislature and rising employee benefit costs could force a fresh round of layoffs and a reduction in many programs. That would include slashing town payments to the Rim Country Regional Chamber of Commerce from $36,000 to just $11,000. The plan also calls for the cancellation of almost all capital improvements and big increases in employee costs for health care. The renewed budget crisis also means the town can’t fill five patrol officer vacancies or end its reliance on two-man crews on fire trucks on many shifts. The possibility of three fresh layoffs at one point left Town Manager Debra Galbraith choking back tears, as the town headed into a fourth year of cutbacks.
Payson wants higher apartment densities
Town council clears way to consider removing 18-unit-per-acre cap in multi-family zones
Developers can build smaller houses packed in tighter — so long as it still looks pretty from the street. That’s the gist of a proposed change in the zoning rules for apartments the Payson Town Council is considering. But don’t worry: The repeated public hearings necessary to change the town’s general plan and zoning ordinance won’t take place for months.
Senior Center lands $87,000 federal grant
Payson also earmarks $121,000 from Community Development funds to help hard-pressed residents repair homes
The Payson Town Council last week agreed to give the Payson Senior Center $87,000 in federal funds to repair and upgrade its facilities and set aside another $121,000 in federal dollars to help low-income homeowners repair homes in blighted neighborhoods. Housing Coordinator Bethany Beck said that unfortunately, the complex rules attached to the Community Development Block Grant program limited the number of partners the town could have — which essentially barred a plea for help from Payson Area Habitat for Humanity.
Payson council reopens debate on sign ordinance
Once more into the breech, dear friends. Last week the Payson Town Council might not have had King Henry V or Shakespeare to get them riled up: But they did vote to charge into the heart of a once-and-future controversy — its sign ordinance. Payson’s effort to impose a restrained, resort-town standard on signs several years ago spurred repeated debates and bitter complaints by local merchants.
Payson crime rate drops
Major crimes drop 2 percent as Payson struggles to fill five vacant slots for patrol officers
Major crimes in Payson dropped along with the number of officers on the beat in 2011. The per-capita major crimes index reported to the FBI dropped 2 percent and calls to dispatchers plunged nearly 30 percent in 2011, according to a report released March 16. “We returned to the trend of declining crime after a spike last year (2010),” said Payson Police Chief Don Engler.
Council bans designer drugs
Police posed to quickly enforce ‘emergency’ ordinance adopted by Payson council
The Payson Police Department will move immediately to block the sale of “spice” and other synthetic drugs in accordance with an emergency ordinance adopted Thursday night by the town council, said Police Chief Don Engler. Engler asked the town council to include an emergency clause in the adoption of an ordinance banning the sale of “intentionally misused” products, so he would not have to wait the normal 30 days before moving to enforce the new law.
Mayors stress job creation, partnership with state
Payson Mayor Kenny Evans joined mayors from around Arizona last week at the state Capitol to urge the Legislature to let cities and towns lead the way on job creation and not to preempt those efforts with legislation that erodes local control. Evans said the Legislature has made strides to create jobs, but then hurts local efforts with excessive micromanaging of cities.
Council debates Green Valley gazebo for weddings and events
The Payson Town Council wants to investigate the possibility of building a gazebo for weddings and other special events in Green Valley Park — despite the misgivings of Payson Mayor Kenny Evans. Counselors Su Connell and Fred Carpenter supported the idea, in the hopes that an additional gazebo people could reserve would foster the use of the park for special events and ceremonies, which would boost the town’s struggling tourist economy.
Payson grapples with designer drug law
The Payson Town Council has taken the first step toward adopting a cutting edge law that attempts to bar the sale of designer drugs by focusing on whether the store selling those substances ought to know people will take them to get high. The new law represents an attempt to cope with mixes of compounds sold as “bath salts” or “potpourri” which include things like synthetic imitations of the active ingredient in marijuana that bundlers can readily change to evade bans based on their components.
Payson residents can get discounts on prescriptions
Discount card offers average savings to residents of 23%
Payson today launched a program to help provide residents with some relief from the high cost of prescription medications. Through the program — sponsored by the National League of Cities (NLC) — the town is making free prescription discount cards available to city residents. The discount cards offer town residents an average of 23 percent savings off the retail price of prescription medications. The NLC Prescription Discount Card can be used by all residents of the town of Payson and has no restrictions based on a resident’s age, income level, or existing health coverage. The card can be used at various participating pharmacies around the town, as well as at more than 60,000 participating retail pharmacies across the country.
Unopposed elections may provoke problems
Question: What’s worse than spending $35,000 on an election without any contested seats? Answer: Doing it twice. That’s the fear behind Payson Town Clerk Silvia Smith’s appeal to voters to fill out and return their ballots for the town council elections — even though no one filed to run against the incumbents in Payson. The same concerns hold true in Star Valley, where no one filed to oppose Mayor Bill Rappaport or council members George Binney, Gary Coon or Paty Henderson. The ballots went out this week for the vote-by-mail town election, with Payson Mayor Kenny Evans, Councilor Michael Hughes, Councilor Richard Croy and Councilor John Wilson all up for re-election. Sounds simple enough: No opponent, slam dunk.
Council opts out of employee discipline
No more politically charged, excruciatingly public firings and demotions. The Payson Town Council just took itself out of the loop. Still smarting from two painfully public employee appeals, the Payson Town Council last week decided to let fired and demoted employees appeal to professional personnel hearing officers in the future — instead of the town council. “This takes the council out of the disciplinary appeals process,” said Town Attorney Tim Wright. “It removes the potential for politics, which could create some real problems. Employees could be treated differently from someone who isn’t so popular” in the community.
Payson struggles for way to ban designer drug sale
Sale of synthetic marijuana to teens prompts town to consider law that would examine intent of the seller
The Payson Town Council on Thursday directed Police Chief Don Engler and Town Attorney Tim Wright to come up with an ordinance that will make it possible to ban the sale of synthetic marijuana and other designer drugs like spice. The council’s move comes in the wake of community protests in front of a handful of Rim Country stores selling spice, a legal mix of compounds including a synthetic version of the active ingredient in marijuana. Moreover, the state Legislature last week rushed through SB 2356 that would ban some versions of the drugs that have quickly gained wide popularity among teenagers in recent months. Most of the blends are labeled “not for human consumption,” since the health effects of eating or smoking the materials remain unknown and untested.
Council approves recycling contract
Rim Country residents will finally have a place to recycle plastic, metal and glass under the terms of an intensely debated contract adopted by the Payson Town Council on Thursday. The council approved a $24,000, 36-month contract with Waste Matters to operate recycling drop-off centers in Green Valley Park and the Sawmill Crossing Shopping Center as well as provide waste disposal at all town offices and special events. The contract provoked a long discussion and a split vote, with Councilors Ed Blair and Su Connell pushing to reopen the bidding on the contract. Waste Matter’s $23,000 bid came in far below the $32,000 bid of Waste Management and the $47,000 bid of Roadrunner. Blair said the numbers in the contending bids didn’t add up, so he wanted the town staff to provide a clear explanation of the differences.
Sales tax flat, jobless rate rises
Building increase hints at recovery, despite still-high unemployment
Payson’s revenue from building permits has rebounded from historic lows this year, stoking hopes of a revival of the region’s once-crucial building sector. Unfortunately, sales tax revenues remain flat and state-shared revenue for gas taxes and income taxes remains depressed — pushing the long-hoped-for recovery off for at least one more month. The region’s unemployment rate also remains stubbornly high, rising from 9.6 percent to 10 percent in December — the most recent month for which county rates are available. That contrasts to a marked improvement in the unemployment rate statewide in December, with the rate dropping from 8.7 percent in November to 8.5 percent in December.
