Payson Roundup

kathypatrick (Kathy Patrick-Baas) says…

I have a question maybe Mr. Naughton will answer. Why is the Mogollon Health Alliance raising funds to bring a 4 year university to our community? Apparently the funds raised are to help defray the up front costs of environmental studies and land surveys and dissemination of information about the university to the public. I do not understand the connection between the Mogollon Health Alliance and the 4 year university.

kathypatrick (Kathy Patrick-Baas) says…

I am not sure why you say the college property does not lie within the town limits of Payson. The land south, west, north and east of the land in question is all in Payson. Is this to be a seperate island?

Yes, housing developments do pay impact fees today for the roads, water, police, etc. But the impact fees paid do not cover the cost impact incurred to the town and have not for the years I have paid attention to town politics. In past council meetings, the different departments present the cost impact of new developments and recommend an impact fee, but the council usually votes in a lower fee. I assume to encourage growth. So in theory, the rest of the residents subsidize new people moving to town. And in the case of the college it will probably be the same. But will the cost be different for college students? Will they have a higher rate of requiring police or using our parks, roads etc or a lesser rate? I don't know but I hope someone is asking the questions and getting answers. And if they do incur more costs and pay lower than average sales and property taxes we will see either a rise in a tax or a greater degration of our roads, slower police response time, etc.

kathypatrick (Kathy Patrick-Baas) says…

Just to set the record straight, I am and never have been any ones point person and am capable of raising questions of my own. So let me share some of the personal thoughts….

I personally have no real position pro or con regarding a college coming to town. My personal concern is whether the town and its tax payers can afford a college. I keep reading that we (the taxpayers) will feel no financial impact but I am not sure I believe it. There will be costs to the town and county and I am not sure the costs will be offset by the income expected. But if someone would share some hard facts maybe my fears would be quelled.

Let me explain my concerns. When you raise the number of citizens in the town and county, some costs will go up. New roads will need to be built, existing roads maintained at a more frequent rate due to increased car traffic, additional police and fire fighters hired, additional police cars and fire trucks purchased, more books and computers for our library, more parks and parks and rec programs, etc. There are many costs that are directly relational to the number of people in town. Some of these costs may be impacted at a higher rate as the average age of the citizen changes.

Now I assume the income to the town/county will also go up due to impact fees, increase property taxes and sales taxed and impact fees. But will these incomes offset the expenses? People talk about all of the high paid professors moving to town and buying homes and goods. But will this really happen? How many of the classes at a college will be conducted electronically with students tuning in to classes held in the valley via TV or computer? And how many professors will drive here to conduct a class and then drive back to their home in the valley? And how many students (especially those attending a college marketed to be low cost) have the funds to buy lots of goods and services in town. The real question is what assumptions are the SLE, the town, the county and college using to determine if this college is financially viable? Number crunching should be going on that estimates the number of people, the projected property tax increase, the projected sales tax increase and the projected expenses. The taxpayers should be a part of the evaluation as they will be left with the lasting financial impact if calculations are not done properly. I do not want to see a new property tax added for the college or an increase in sales tax in the future due to inaccurate assumptions and bad calculations. Those pushing for the college could easily make assumptions that result in a rosy financial projection then be long gone with the truth is evident.

But I would love to be proved wrong. Anyone have any facts?

kathypatrick (Kathy Patrick-Baas) says…

I think it is more likely GCC is afraid that no 4 year college will ever come here.

Some in town wonder if the whole ASU idea is just a ruse to get the forest land and now the county land transferred. The investors remain hidden and now have a SLE doing the up front work for them to get the land transferred away from the government entities. When ASU (or any other college) decides it is not financially viable to start a 4 year college in Payson, what will then happen to the land? I would assume the only recourse left for the investors would be to disband the SLE and develop the land for commercial or residential purposes.

I think this is what GCC representatives are hoping to keep from happening at least right next door to them. If any of the above is a possibility, the GCC representatives are doing their job in asking questions and planning for possible outcomes. I wonder why the businesses in town are not doing the same questioning, because they may be having to compete against a lot of new commercial entities.

kathypatrick (Kathy Patrick-Baas) says…

I wish the school board tightened their belts a year or two ago. If they had then maybe some funds would be available now to keep the class sizes on the smaller side. How much money was spent on the wrought iron fencing, new parking lots, lighted signs, new buses (even with Air Conditioning), etc? These are all nice things but not critical when it comes to educating our youth. It is especially frustrating that the money was spent just last year for Frontier Elementary, the school they are now recommending to close! Does this make sense to anyone?

kathypatrick (Kathy Patrick-Baas) says…

I actually think some of the credit needs to be given to our Governor. According to a press release available on Yahoo finance regarding the program at Arizona schools (including Payson)….“To Help Arizona school districts control energy costs, I directed $20 million of the State Energy Program monies be dedicated to upgrade energy efficiencies and add renewable energy programs,” said Jan Brewer, Governor of Arizona. “An important aspect of these school projects is that they will be designed and constructed by Arizona companies and built by Arizona workers. These projects are good for Arizona school districts and they are good for the State of Arizona.”
The release also stated: “This clean solar energy program has been conceived by Arizona’s Kennedy Partners, LLC and co-developed by Kennedy, NRG Solar, a subsidiary of NRG Energy, Inc. (nyse: nrg - News), and in conjunction with Pinnacle West, APS and public officials across the state.”

kathypatrick (Kathy Patrick-Baas) says…

The only reference I can find in minutes and agendas of Council meetings is a Special Session held on November 9th of 2009 to take the topic of ASU into Executive Session. Not a good opportunity for a citizen to speak.

Regarding the “weak” mayor form of government…..it is really up to what the other Councilors will allow.

kathypatrick (Kathy Patrick-Baas) says…

Ruby,
Great questions which I think should be answered. It is doubtful that any of these questions will be answered anytime soon. All of the meetings are being held behind closed doors. And the articles written by the Roundup only have the Mayor as a source. So there is no validation as to what he is saying about the donations and cost impact to the town. There are so many unanswered questions regarding the impact of the college to our streets, parks, libraries and no analysis of the sales tax increases to our general fund as a result of 1500-6000 students coming to town. But I think the strategy is that it is easier to sell the citizens on a general idea of a college without getting into the specifics which may turn people off from the idea. The sad thing is, the strategy seems to be working.

kathypatrick (Kathy Patrick-Baas) says…

As a previous Town Manager, seems to me that Fred could easily fill Mike's previous role of walking into Community Development with potential new business owners. Or any of the other Councilors. If Mike was able to do it as a Town Councilor, we still have 6 of them to choose from. Maybe it is a role that could be assigned to the Vice Mayor.

kathypatrick (Kathy Patrick-Baas) says…

And I thought this was the charter of the Payson Regional Economic Development Corporation. Doesn't Payson give money to this non-Profit to accomplish the very same activity? So if Payson hires Mike to do this job, does Payson cut back on the funds given to PREDC?