By [Concerned Sedona Resident]
(June 11, 2018)
A year ago we published our 10th – and what we hoped – was our last “Selling Sedona” article. We felt we had addressed the issues surrounding the selling of our city to the outside world. Sadly, we were wrong. Too many new problems, new events and new twists have taken place for us to keep silent.
Even though we identified the players involved in selling Sedona, analyzed the financial losses the city was absorbing by handing over public tax money to the Chamber of Commerce, pointed out Chamber misuses of that money, reviewed the federal tax laws that prohibit non-profit organizations like the Chamber from taking over business activity typically handled by private enterprise, pointed out the unfair practices conducted at the Chamber’ Uptown visitors center, covered the traffic and day-tripper tourist problems and demonstrated the declining quality of life for Sedona residents brought on by the tourism flood, there are now other topics demanding to be addressed. The major one is public anger.
Public anger at the city and Chamber of Commerce has simply boiled over in the past year since our last article. Yes, this anger has been brewing for some time, but in the past year it has exploded. It has blasted out into the open like no other Sedona issue has for several decades at least.
Sedona residents are just plain mad. The anger comes up in virtually every conversation, whether it’s simply between friends in the grocery store, a neighborhood gathering, letters to the editor, discussions at organized groups, City Council testimony or entertainment events. It’s everywhere!
The anger is focused on two related issues. First is anger at the Chamber for the tourist traffic, in all its manifestations, that has created a quality of life disaster for Sedona residents. The second is anger at the City Council for the millions of public tax dollars needlessly given to the Chamber each year, money which creates that disaster while simultaneously robbing residents of public services, increasing residents’ costs for things like sewer fees and delaying important city improvements.
Perhaps nothing illustrates the extent of Sedona’s tax dollar give-away more than a simple listing of the amounts paid to the Chamber of Commerce in the past five years. The numbers have climbed almost 500 percent in that period while the current mayor and most of the current City Council members have been in office.
City payments to the Chamber:
2014 – $534,000
2015 – $1,258,000
2016 – $1,641,609
2017 – $1,959,734
2018 – $2,502,208
______________________
Total – $7,896,708
That is nearly $8 million of public tax dollars used to create the current mess of traffic, abused trails, parking jams and local neighborhood problems. That is nearly $8 million dollars that could have been used to fill vacant police jobs, pave local streets, fix drainage problems, improve parks and recreation services and hold down sewer fee increases. That is nearly $8 million that could have been better used to address already existing traffic issues without raising the city sales tax rate.
But do not worry, friends. Relief is in sight. Recently, the Chamber of Commerce has graciously “volunteered” to cap their spending of city tax money at a mere $2.17 million. AND, they have also decided to direct some of those public funds toward traffic issues. THEY have decided to do all of this while our elected City Council members continue to ignore residents’ complaints.
When did Sedona residents elect the Chamber of Commerce to decide how and how much public funding should be spent on ANYTHING? Where did the Chamber get the audacity to think they are in charge of what the city does or does not give them and how it is used? Where did this entitlement attitude come from?
The answer is pretty simple; the City Council is afraid of the Chamber. They are afraid of being blackballed at the next election. They are afraid of the vested-interest pressures exerted by Chamber members and afraid to stand up and do the job they were elected to do. The City Council has let the Chamber call the shots for so long that letting them make these kinds of decisions has become the norm. The inmates are now running this asylum!
The next city election cycle has already begun and there are nine non-incumbents running for five seats. If residents desire to make a change in city leadership there now is plenty of opportunity to do so.
Another source of the Chamber’s entitlement attitude comes from their belief that the city’s bed tax belongs to them. It goes like this: Bed tax comes only from tourists staying overnight in commercial lodging. The Chamber’s Lodging Council represents just over half of the lodging rooms for rent in Sedona. Thus, in their thinking, that makes the bed tax theirs.
From Chamber CEO Jennifer Wesselhoff recently: “We are asking the City Council for no increase for Tourism Bureau marketing in FY19. Instead, we are suggesting our scheduled increase go to help fund improvements to our traffic flow problems…”
It’s hard not to react to Wesselhoff’s use of the word “our” in describing the public funds the city hands them. It typifies their entitlement attitude and belief that bed tax money really belongs to them.
Never mind that all city sales tax, bed tax and a number of lesser taxes and fees are lumped into one pot known as the city’s general fund. That fund can be used for ANY city purpose. Chamber contention that the bed tax portion of the general fund somehow belongs to them is no more true than the notion that they are entitled to any other part of the city’s general fund.
Unfortunately, our local Red Rock (We-always-verify-our-facts) News, in a recent editorial attempting to explain this issue, got it completely wrong. The editorial result was just more muddied water. “News” editor, Christopher Fox Graham, cited portions of Arizona Revised Statute 9-500.06 and attempted to interpret it to mean that all bed tax collected by the city had to be spent on tourism marketing. Without going into a lengthy recital of state law and all of Graham’s editorial mistakes, the short answer is that none of the bed tax collected in Sedona has to be allocated to tourism promotion or any other specific purpose because of the size of the city and the date the bed tax was created.
The fact is that public money paid to the Chamber of Commerce does not come from bed tax. That check is written out of the city’s general fund. There is no such thing as a city Bed Tax Fund. What confuses folks is that the SIZE of the check is based on the annual amount of bed tax collected.
But, back to Sedona residents’ anger. What hope do any of the traffic actions now being proposed or discussed have of actually improving the situation or restoring some major part of Sedona’s quality of life? The answer is a dismal one.
Much of the reason has to do with supply and demand; specifically, the supply of public space and infrastructure verses tourist demand for its use. The demand side of this discussion is completely missing. Only the supply side is being considered.
The most obvious piece of the supply side discussion is the city’s $250,000 traffic study. It’s all about creating more supply of roads, parking lots, busses, shuttles, neighborhood connectors, directional signs, bike paths, roundabouts and bridges. None of these are “solutions.” None can produce more than a marginal or cosmetic “solution” to the problems. None can, at even the most successful levels, make a measurable difference in the impact of tourist demand levels now being imposed on city infrastructure, forest facilities and residents’ quality of life. Even a combination of proposed actions cannot and will not make any detectible difference in traffic issues so long as the demand side is ignored and the overselling of Sedona continues.
Enacting many of the proposed supply-side actions will actually make matters worse. More and larger parking lots at trailheads only add to the degradation and abuse of these areas. No number of busses, shuttles and worker transport vans can dent the over 100,000 person-trips per day of people (mostly tourists) going to, from and within Sedona. The addition of more busses and shuttles will only divert money and effort from the need to address the demand side of the equation. Shuttle vans bringing more people to trail heads also add to the degradation of too many feet traveling those trails. Building neighborhood “connector” roads only further degrade residents’ quality of life. More busses and shuttles only mean more large vehicles stuck in the same traffic jams.
None of these approaches will change the overfilled parking lots or problems like the 180 tourist cars parked along Dry Creek Rd. on the Sunday of Memorial Day weekend. It won’t change the environmental degradation and bad experience of those approximately 750 people all trying to hike the Devil’s Bridge trail at the same time.
The inconvenient fact is that we cannot bus, van, shuttle, sign or pave our way out of Sedona’s tourist and traffic problem. Only cutting demand will make a measurable difference.
Demand is the elephant in the living room. No one on the City Council, city staff or the Chamber wants to address it. No one is willing to step up and shut off the demand faucet opened by millions of public tax dollars given to the Chamber annually.
It may once have temporarily made sense to subsidize tourist advertising during the depth of the recession, but not any more. The US and world economy is doing well and business is booming in Sedona. Businesses can well afford to pay for their own advertising.
Chamber leadership and members contend that without the massive city subsidy, Sedona would have to institute a city property tax to make up a tax shortfall. The reality is that Sedona has been discovered. Chamber CEO Jennifer Wesselhoff admits in trying to defend the Chamber from residents’ anger about traffic, that the tourists will come “…whether we advertise or not.” But is the Chamber willing to give up that annual $2+ million in public tax dollars? No chance. Battle lines are already being drawn in the coming City Council election and Chamber hatchets are already being sharpened for use against those who propose to curb it.
The Chamber wants “its” money. Chamber members want the tax-funded free advertising. Chamber employees want the added perks this public money has provided. City Council members want Chamber backing in the next election. There is plenty of quid pro quo to go around!
The Chamber has also developed a new smoke screen to hide behind called “Sustainable Tourism.” It’s still just a plan that hasn’t yet been exposed to public view. That won’t happen until October, but already it has become their new shield to ward off angry residents. We have a new sustainable tourism plan to protect our scenic environment, forest and trails, reduce traffic, educate tourists and protect quality of life in Sedona, they say. Don’t worry, the problems will all be addressed they say. The Chamber is paying lip service to creating “sustainable tourism,” which only means keeping demand at the current unsustainable level or above.
The “plan” doesn’t address the option of cutting off the millions of dollars of public funds. Yes, we’re developing sustainable tourism – so long as it’s sustained at least at the current levels, they say. AND, they are “reinvesting” in Sedona they say. The Chamber wants residents to think they are reinvesting Chamber money in resolving traffic, parking, trail degradation etc. issues. Not true. The “reinvesting,” for which the Chamber wants credit, isn’t costing Chamber members a dime. It is public tax money the city gave them that they want public accolades for “reinvesting” back into city problems they created.
Yet another example of the Chamber’s twisted view about who public tax money really belongs to.
Public anger at the overselling of Sedona has also found a new outlet in the upcoming Home Rule election. Choosing the home rule ballot option every four years allows the city to set it’s own budget levels. Without Sedona voter approval, a formula created by the Arizona legislature would set the city’s budget ceiling. It would be about 50 percent below the current level. Such a major cut in city spending would very likely curb city funding to the Chamber of Commerce – and a lot of other things.
Voting down Home Rule at the August 28 election may not be the best approach, despite it’s almost certainty to curb handing over public money to the private Chamber of Commerce. Voting it down also curbs many of the city’s choices in how much it budgets as well. A better approach may be to approve Home Rule to protect budgeting options while simultaneously voting in new Council members who have the will and courage to cut off the faucet of public funds to the Chamber of Commerce and reduce tourist-created demand on local resources.
Finally, there is another new and sadly unintended consequence of overselling Sedona. It involves Sedona’s housing situation and it has not really been publically addressed.
Sedona has run extremely low on rental housing and is virtually out of all lower-cost (affordable?) housing. We can thank both the Arizona Legislature and the current over-promotion of tourism for that. In January of last year, a new legislative bill overrode Sedona’s ban on short-term rentals. Only rentals of 30 days or longer were previously legal. The legislature ended that. Now a home, apartment, room, condo, etc. can be rented out for any length of time. As a result, since January, 2017, over 900 new short-term – read that tourist – rental units have been established or converted in Sedona neighborhoods.
Without the legislature axing the city’s authority to curb daily and weekly rental units in neighborhoods, this loss would not have happened. Without the overselling of Sedona, the financial incentive to convert rental housing once used by local workers, retirees, young families and even public servants into tourist “AirBNB’s,” would be much reduced.
Rental rates for a modest 2,000 sq. ft. home in Sedona have climbed to about $2,500 per month, far above a level affordable to most who rely on rental housing. No amount of city effort to stimulate the creation of new “affordable housing” will change the problem. This is a completely new dynamic in Sedona’s “affordable housing” situation and it changes the entire landscape of creating low cost housing in Sedona. Investors will continue to snap up any available cheap new housing for use as tourist rentals. The City Council requiring a couple more one-bedroom rental units at a new hotel like the Marriott is little more than legalized coercion and doesn’t even show on the radar against potential needs. Essentially, the affordable housing game in Sedona is over.
Tourist-stimulated price increases and the loss of rental housing has chased away service workers. Sedona area hotels now report they are collectively about 300 workers short of staffing needs. It has chased away young families with school-aged children, causing enrollment drops and contributing to closure of one local school. It has chased away public servants like teachers and police officers. And, it has created a cash-only black market for private rental room cleaners with pay as low as $5 per hour – well below minimum wage.
And so the unintended consequences of overselling of Sedona continue.
At least from time to time Sedona residents’ anger gets a bit of comic relief (see below) – since any form of real relief is still in the “we’re-working-on-it” stage at City Hall and the “We-hear-your-concerns” stage at the Chamber of Commerce.
Selling Sedona – One Year Later, 2016: Part 1 • Part 2 • Part 3
Selling Sedona, 2015: Part 1 • Part 2 • Part 3 • Part 4 • Part 5 • Epilogue
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40 Comments
Well thought-out analysis, makes a lot of sense. Now let’s just hope the Sedona voters will take the appropriate action in the upcoming election.
No one in city government or at the chamber will admit that there is an upper limit to the number of cars that can be physically handled by Sedona streets. No one!
The traffic study ($250,000) didn’t address the CAUSE of all this traffic, only the lame “solutions” that clearly won’t work if we keep letting more and more cars into our city. Vote for a candidate who will agree that there IS an upper limit to the number of cars. If they can’t agree then they are going to be no better at solving our traffic problems than the current bunch.
Wake up.
People will not stop coming to Sedona, it sits on two state Hwy’s , Red Rock’s and 100 miles from Phoenix and the Grand Canyon and remember 8000 people that make a living in Sedona from tourism .
The city has started work on the new traffic program Sedona in Motion, $30,000,000
I have been to at least 20 meeting with city and state park and Forrest service people re: Parking and traffic. the city is working on traffic.
The #1 state park in Arizona in not in Sedona but on 89a Slide Rock.
People will all way drive to Flagstaff and Oak Creek on weekends.
The Idea that somehow the chamber is the problem is wrong,…. They are the solution…
That help to bring people to Sedona in the off season and mid week, the chamber promote thing to do in the Verde valley to get visitors out of Sedona for the day and off heavily used trails.
Only 189 new hotel units have been added to Sedona in the last 10 years
The city and the city council are doing there job The state just f%#k Sedona, you want to get mad at someone get mad at our governor .
Traffic this year was all about sb 1350 and 1000 new short term rentals we lost over 500 low income housing units and now people must drive in and out of Sedona for work.
1000 new over night units 400 to 500 lost housing units, hotels stays this spring up only 1.5% you figure it out .
First, Concerned Sedona Resident is not a real name.
Second, the Sedona Excentric addressed this and relating issues more than 25 years ago. Sadly, there wasn’t enough support to keep it going.
The original and following city council members got hoodwinked by the timeshare businesses with false and empty promises. All that happened was the infrastructure had extreme demands thrust upon it with no added income to cover the demand for new and wider roads, more traffic signals, added police and fire and their new vehicles and buildings and maintenance of it all.
By having kitchens or kitchenettes placed in every new tourist’s room, restaurant taxes collected by the city were adversely affected. By having no grocery food tax, visitors were encouraged to buy food and take it back to their temporary home and cook it and eat it there.
Demands from residents and local businesses became greater and greater to foot the growing bills in a very short period of time.
The quality of life of a city is how its growth benefits their residents, not the passers-through. The majesty of a city, state or country is the quality of life of its poorest residents.
I believe the last timeshare built was the first to realize an impact fee. Until our visitors contribute more to the cost of them enjoying their environment, residents are going to continue to be forced to pick up the tab.
Wages are stagnant. The employment pool is empty. Benefits are nonexistent. And, everyone is wondering why workers aren’t happily greeting every new walk-in they see as if it is a long lost relative that owes them money standing there with an envelope full of cash with their name on it.
Back to the food tax. People from Cottonwood, Page Springs and Cornville don’t drive to Sedona to save the 2% on their grocery bill. The tourists they do have, eat at restaurants and contribute to their local resident’s standard of living. While far from perfect, it is a better form of income gathering.
The chamber of commerce is constantly under pressure to grow the pie, because the city officials keep allowing for the slices to become thinner and thinner, while shuffling our workforce back and forth to their affordable housing.
I think Sedona might have it right – an abundance of churches, banks and grocery stores. Everyone who lives there is praying the money will keep rolling in to buy non-taxed food.
Funny, I’m supposedly vacationing on Cape Cod with my wife to help her 87-year-old mother – and the issues, aside from the timeshares, are eerily similar. Perhaps, I’ll start a Cape Cod Excentric.
Hi Thom:
It seems there are quite a few locals that feel we are being inundated by tourists and part-time residents who are clogging the streets and destroying Sedona as we know it.
But I have a solution. We need to discourage them from coming here in the first place. We need to make Sedona less attractive so the tourists will go to other places like Jerome, Cornville or Clarkdale and leave our city alone.
Are you ready?
Here it is. We need to paint the Red Rocks… BLACK! Everyone of them. Black! There will be nothing here to attract the tourists. They will find somewhere else to swarm.
No more red rocks. No more traffic problem.
Instead of “No Home Rule” we could replace the mantra with “No Red Rocks.”
We could have a paint in, where the disenfranchised Sedona locals could all participate and paint their little chunks of red rocks, black.
I know you of all people Thom, can appreciate the brilliance of this idea. No applause necessary.
As long as the paint is “ALL Natural “Im in .
Oops. That was me posting to Thom’s post above. Somehow the posts got mixed up.
Thought appreciated. Thanks for remembering!
Spot on! I have wondered when and how the residents would organize themselves to seize some vestige of control from the Chamber and it’s wholly owned council and mayor. The city government has long failed us (homeowners & fulltime residents) and we desperately need to organize ourselves around the core of the concerned citizens who have authored these editorials.
Thanks for saying full time residents and homeowners. I was a FT resident. I won’t blame Airbnb becasue that is my work but then on the other hand I had to move because there were no rentals available. I go to Sedona City Council Meetings and am an active member of the community and several non profits. I cannot afford to buy or now live in Sedona anymore but I still care and I will because I have fought hard to live in Sedona for almost 5 years. So we will have to see what happens. Please read my personal comments below. Thanks!
Interesting you post this article which just fuels this topic and educates more to jump on what I always called the I hate the Chamber band wagon. It’s a fact. Some locals complain about the tourists and the Chamber and the City Council and vice versa. I do not engage in those conversations and just ignore them. I try to get along with everyone. Interesting because if you look at one of people running for mayor…which you can view on the Sedona City Council’s website under meeting and video. It was the 1/9/18 meeting, the first speaker under Public Forum. A perfect example of what you are talking about. This individual was complaining about the Chamber and City Council and angered to the point he couldn’t even finish. I personally don’t do politics or religion on social media because if you do marketing or are selling something and people remember you…they won’t buy what you are selling if the first thing that comes to their mind is a political opinion you posted that they do not believe in. I choose to spend my time fighting other battles such as Yavapai County’s being number one in AZ for suicide, the billion dollar unregulated self help industry that has saturated Sedona and the fake (not all) practitioners that are harming seekers (aka visitors) in Sedona. Not only making false promises and charging enormous amounts of money for their so called services and self proclaimed healing powers and the exploitation of the true Native American culture and traditions the others are exploiting and making money off of. I feel my time is much better spent on these issues then watching the anger and the stone throwing going on that you speak of. What you all don’t see….is everyone is so busy with hating the City and the Chamber and the Locals and the Tourists…..These other dangerous issues are just slithering into to Spiritual Sedona virtually unnoticed just like the recent cult because everyone is too busy participating in exactly what you are talking about. There are some huge problems Sedona is going to have to deal with soon as the smoke settles and eventually REAL issues will need to be addressed in our community.
I want to thank the author of the very well written article.
While Home Rule would be appropriate if you had a resident focused city council, if I win as Mayor, and Sam Tardio who is also resident focused wins on city council, that only gives you two of 4 votes needed to pass any changes. If No on Home Rule carries, you don’t have to hope you get a resident focused city council.
If I am not mayor, you either get the current regime or possibly a council that will believe the Chambers BS. There are enough people spreading disinformation right now that a serious educational effort has to take place.
If you want to organize contact me through my website, SaveOurSedona.org.
Writing articles and posting online is a start, but it is not enough. I spend most of my day on this effort, and I have a few great people helping. We need more help.
@Julie Burnett says:
June 11, 2018 at 12:50 pm
Ms Burnett claims I was ” angered to the point he couldn’t even finish.” I suggest you look at the video in question and make your own judgment. I was not angry at all, was disgusted with the council’s actions. My posture at the podium could not have been more relaxed, and the Sedona Police Chief was seated behind me a few feet away.
She further states ” I try to get along with everyone.” I do also, but sometimes people push things too far, and bully others. Some people lie and take what is not rightfully theirs. While I wish everyone was honest, fair and moral, that is unfortunately not the world we live in.
Ok Tony, I will take that. Disgusted is probably more appropriate than angered. At least you show up. Lots of residents complain but don’t go to or watch Sedona City Council Meetings they just complain and I guess think things get fixed by themselves, think others will fix their issues for them or just like to sit around and complain. Best wishes in your pursuit of becoming the Mayor of Sedona. I couldn’t do it.
Ok Tony, I will take that. Disgusted is probably more appropriate than angered. At least you show up. Lots of residents complain but don’t go to or watch Sedona City Council Meetings they just complain and I guess think things get fixed by themselves, think others will fix their issues for them or just like to sit around and complain. Best wishes in your pursuit of becoming the Mayor of Sedona. I couldn’t do it just for that reason that I just speak my mind.
City voted on chamber contract tonight, and no Tony, what happened this was you chance to stand up show your stuff, really hammer the chamber, and talk about how you are trapped in you drive way because of traffic.
looking forward to the debates…. but like trump , you don’t need to study up you have have your smart neighbor you can bring along.
The council voted to do the same thing they have been doing, even after the result has damaged the quality of life for residents? The council continued to provide a no bid contract to the chamber? Mayor Sandy continued to support tourism over residents, to support the Sedona Wine Fest which she is the Chairman and CEO? The same Wine Fest that received an $8000 grant from the city? The same city council that no matter how many residents speak against something, takes care of the Chamber of Commerce and ignores residents? The same council that when I and other residents spoke against the sales tax increase in January totally ignored me and other residents?
Oddly enough,I chose not to waste my time talking to them and worked on my campaign instead.
Please, vote No on Home Rule, vote out all incumbents. You can tell by their actions who they work for.
My platform : Residents First
Don’t be a Fool
State Rule is uncool
It’s our right to rule
Vote for Home Rule!
Library funding support from the city this would stop if home rule does not pas just one of the local group that funding would disappear from
Here funding the library receives from the city:
2009 – 431,833
2010 – 388,650
2011 – 369,218
2012 – 359,036
2013 – 359,000
2014 – 369,000
2015 – 382,000
2016 – 386,966
2017 – 393,932
Another fun fact if home rule does not pass and you found and the police department in full and you funded waste water in the full you would have approximately $600,000 left to run the remainder of the city
Tony tell us how this is better and Donna would like to see this happen just so she can be spiteful
@Steve segmer
You mean the library that banked the entire amount given to them by Sedona the last fiscal year?
The library that got over $1.2 million from the counties from your property tax the same fiscal year?
The Library that according to their tax return has over $6 million in assets?
I love the library. I think the money could have been better spent lowering your sewer fees.
Hi Tony,
Perhaps you and I should sit down and discuss the Library funding and assets. Our “assets” happen to be the building that was built with NO taxpayer money and strictly donated funds and in kind labor. The “banking” of the money is how one pays their bills. The Counties and City, do in fact give us roughly 1.2 million, but it costs approx. $150,000 more than that, annually, to keep the doors open during our current hours of operation and all that “banked” money is what keeps the lights on and the small staff paid. We couldn’t offer what we do at all without the over 150 volunteers that give of their time and talent to the operations of the Library. The rest of our operations expense comes from our donors. I would be happy to sit down with you, our Business Manager and Library Director to bring you up to speed on the facts of the Library operations. I, in fact do not receive a salary, nor has any President of the Board of Trustees. We are all completely volunteer. As a matter of fact, I donate hundreds of hours to the Library and I live in Cottonwood.
Thank you,
Joel DeTar
I had an email exchange with Mr DeTar over the last few days. I could not get him to admit to the $2,265,377 in publicly traded securities (stock) the Sedona Library owns shown on it’s most recent tax return.. Nor would he agree that the $534,076 savings account or the $613,291 in cash non interest bearing account were any more than operating funds. The library does show a depreciated building valued at $2,862,460. That is significantly different than Mr DeTar’s Our “assets” happen to be the building that was built with NO taxpayer money and strictly donated funds and in kind labor.”
The “small staff” according to the most recent tax return was paid total compensation of $844,921.
When we discussed the $22,357 that is shown on the Library tax return as payment to Joel DeTar, President -Elect, he said “As to how the accounting firm decided to list the payment to me, there was much discussion. They felt it would appear that we were trying to hide something if compensation to a Board member was listed any other way.” Mr DeTar elaborated ” My company did a renovation of the “house” that the Library owns next door. We brought it into compliance for ADA access so it could be used for the Friends of the Library permanent book-sale building.” I pointed out the Maintenance and repairs category of the tax return, which shows Expenses of $63,868 and $59,860. I don’t know if Mr DeTar or his company was paid any of the previously mentioned amounts.
I did offer Mr DeTar the opportunity 4 days ago to correct his statement on Sedona.biz and sent him a copy of the tax return.
I will be happy to provide a copy of the tax return, to anyone who asks. As always, I as willing to back up my statements with documented proof.
Tony: Nor would he agree that the $534,076 savings account or the $613,291 in cash non interest bearing account were any more than operating funds
This is because they are operating FUNDs
They use the money to pay will and payroll and back up for repair and maintenance.
Other money the library is saving for future projects. (Tony did you see the plans ? ) NO
Tony is now a expert in non profit funding.
And this is all about Tony wanting to cut the city budget in 1/2 ? with a no on home rule
Tony only knows how to second guess and never join a board or give to the Library .
segner,
You’ve admitted to being a socialist. You think you know better than anyone how to spend other peoples money.
I believe instead of the city taking peoples money, they should be allowed to keep their own money, then donate it if they choose. Like those donations that originally built the library.
segner, if the other socialists take your many houses and hotel, I hope you welcome them as brothers.
You’ve admitted to being a socialist
Tony and so are you ,
public K-12 education, which functions alongside charter schools and private K-12s;
public libraries, which function very well in an age of bookstores;
public police forces, which work alongside private detectives and private security firms;
public infrastructure like roads, bridges, water and sewer systems, making modern life as comfort-driven as it is today;
public parks, with green spaces and recreation space for all
municipal power is in many towns, akin to the TVA.
Social Security, which is socialism for seniors. Who can still work for extra money if they must, but won’t be totally destitute if they don’t. Medicare
so tony yes I am
I took the time to look at the video of the most recent Chamber presentation to the City Council. 30 minutes I’ll never get back.
I’ll save you some time and give you the short version.
Jennifer was “excited.” She said it a lot.
They are not asking to take more money than last year.
They are not calling it product development, now they are calling it reinvestment.
They plan to “educate tourists.” (good luck with that)
Keywords, “in development” ” take action” “better balance” ” we care”
I know you are waiting for the highlight of her speech, ” Sustainability”.
To the chamber in association with the university, this means” we are going to try and ban disposable straws.” Yep, plastic drinking straws.
They are not going to advertise in Phoenix this summer. Just this summer. Could it be because we have an election? Day trippers will be back due to chamber advertising in the winter.
I’m sure you are thrilled to hear the chamber is asking that their take will not be any more than the $2.5 million they got this last fiscal year.
Don’t take my word for it. Watch it yourself. It’s your time.
It makes me so sad to see this once beautiful city turned into a traffic nightmare and totally overcrowded with visitors. The building of new motels and hotels should be stopped. Our infrastructure just can’t handle it. It’s crazy to close Big Park School and add school buses into mess as well. As a Realtor I see people all over the city
adding rental units to their homes. This is just a disaster. There also needs to be better signage at the roundabouts explaining that you yield to traffic coming from your left. People just sit there totally confused because they are unsure when they can proceed. I also think it is important to get a second route from the Village to Sedona. If one has an emergency and has to go the existing route it is a total nightmare. Bikers don’t follow the markings for the bike route either and there needs to be better signage for that. This is one of the most remarkably beautiful cities in the world and we are totally destroying it.
Barbara we’ve only built 185 hotel rooms in the last 10 years, 1000 new overnight rooms were added by our governor and his law SB 1350. As for traffic it’s not atrocious it’s busy twice a year in on weekends we are a tourist town you can’t expect all the businesses who employ 10,000 people in town to roll over and stop growing because it takes you 10 minutes longer to get the bashes
Do you want to fix traffic well then don’t listen to Tony because without home rule there will be no money for anything paving traffic yellow shirts there is no easy fix we are all going to have to realize that sedona is going to keep growing and the problem is not the chamber and not the businesses it’s SB 1350 and we have to live with it The job of the Chamber of Commerce and business and residence is to manage tourism because it’s not going away
Mr. Steve Segner, in the interest of full disclosure, could you please tell us if you are affiliated with the hotel industry? And also please tell us if you are a full time resident? thanks!
Paul,To answer your question I’m president of the lodging Association, I own a small hotel, I represent the interests of the working people in the lodging industry I am a full-time registered voter of Sedona I own a home in Phoenix the canyon Sedona and my hotel so I get to pick and choose my place of residence hope that answers your question
The problem is easy, we have too many tourists and limited roads. If you pave all of Sedona, you will essentially destroy it to make it more accessible for tourists. Unfortunately, that is the strategy of the chamber and “Sedona in Motion”, a few more turn lanes and keep growing so a few greedy people can charge higher room rates. City staff loves it because it means more revenue for them to spend. They can’t imagine saying “Sedona is Full”. They can deny it, but we live in a small valley surrounded by beautiful red rocks and forest wilderness. The space is limited, so growth is limited.
Moderates have caused this problem. If Sedona traffic only grows at a moderate 8% per year, in 9 years traffic will double. Total gridlock. That’s what moderate growth will get you. We live in a small valley surrounded by forest. All the engagement in the world will not change that. Logically, you can not have unlimited growth in a limited area.The total failure of the current leadership is indicated by the loss of about 10% of the Sedona population while millions of baby boomers are retiring.
They can call us “NIMBY” ( not in my back yard ) and close the gate behind us, but Sedona is geographically limited. It’s like denying reality. You can deny reality, but you can’t deny the consequences of denying reality.”
The consequences of denying reality will destroy the Sedona we love.
Tony says he’s not a tea party candidate why is he against public transportation in new infrastructure read article
How the Koch Brothers Are Killing Public Transit Projects Around the Country
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — A team of political activists huddled at a Hardee’s one rainy Saturday, wolfing down a breakfast of biscuits and gravy. Then they descended on Antioch, a quiet Nashville suburb, armed with iPads full of voter data and a fiery script.
The group, the local chapter for Americans for Prosperity, which is financed by the oil billionaires Charles G. and David H. Koch to advance conservative causes, fanned out and began strategically knocking on doors. Their targets: voters most likely to oppose a local plan to build light-rail trains, a traffic-easing tunnel and new bus routes.
“Do you agree that raising the sales tax to the highest rate in the nation must be stopped?” Samuel Nienow, one of the organizers, asked a startled man who answered the door at his ranch-style home in March. “Can we count on you to vote ‘no’ on the transit plan?”
In cities and counties across the country — including Little Rock, Ark.; Phoenix, Ariz.; southeast Michigan; central Utah; and here in Tennessee — the Koch brothers are fueling a fight against public transit, an offshoot of their longstanding national crusade for lower taxes and smaller government.
Tony said:
“They can call us &;NIMBY’s; ( not in my back yard ) and close the gate behind us, but Sedona is geographically limited. It’s like denying reality. You can deny reality, but you can’t deny the consequences of denying reality;”
Yes, Tony
I agree,”denying reality” Tony and his followers came to Sedona as tourists and then said close the doors.
Sedona will grow, we have hundreds of home and commercial sites ready to be build on,the Verdi valley will grow with hundreds of new home, all ready in planning.
Phoenix is one of the fastest growing areas in America and just 100 miles away.
Sedona sits on two, not ” one” but 2 state hwy’s and one is a scenic hwy.
Sedona is next to some of the most heavily used state parks in the state.
Sedona is 100 miles south of the Grand Canyon.
And Tony solution is to not work on roads (Sedona in Motion) de fund the library, and stop home rule.
and that will fix Sedona!
The chamber spends the majority of visitor tax (bed tax) on visitor management not advertising.
So,Tony tell us how you will stop the tourists…. Because you can sure a hell bet business and there10,000 employees will be getting the word out about Sedona,
The answer is planning and funding for growth….. not “T” party Tony’s head in the sand approach.
Mr. Segler, you have stated a couple of times that Sedona has ‘businesses who employ 10,000 people in town’. How did you arrive at this number? Is this a published fact? thanks.
Paul, I think it’s interesting whenever I do a post nobody responds to the facts, they just go after a numbers, or where I live or what I do for a living or where I vote,, what difference does it make if it’s 8500 or 11,200 people, that work in the tourism industry. the point is a lot of people make their living from tourism and by the way I got my numbers from the city and the chamber, you can fight about that number or you can talk about how do we fix traffic .Sedona is a tourist town with 70% the operating income coming from tourism we would be fools not to support tourism as it benefits all of us,only a fool would think that tourism is going to go away, traffic is in our future tourism is in our future lets manage it . The bed tax is a self-imposed tax on hotel guests and we are using it to manage tourism and bring in a clientele that can support her high-end restaurants and galleries Sedona in motion is what people have been asking for it just goes to show that nothing is too insignificant to fight about and sedona
Mr. Segler, I can assure you it does not serve your credibility to play fast and loose with numbers. Of course they are important. How can we make decisions without accurate counts of traffic, tourists, employment, etc? Do we instead make decisions based on the what the tree spirits tell us, or maybe magical thinking?
@Steve segner
You’re fake news Steve.
You claim nobody responds to your facts. That’s because you never state any . Only lies and misinformation. Let’s start with the lie that tourists pay 70% of the operating expenses. That has been refuted with facts dozens of times, yet you still repeat it. You can’t even give a true number for tourist related employment, it’s way less than you say.
The other frequently stated misinformation is the budget will be cut by 50% without Home Rule. The fake number comes about when you take the normal excessive $35-36 million annual city spending,and then make up a budget that says now we are going to spend $49 million. Why not lie bigger and say it’s going to be a $100 million budget Steve? Then you can say it will be a 75% cut.
Voters are fed up This is our home, not a tourist trap.
Tony, the number to run the city is around $13,000,000 after bond payments and other expenses it must may by law,after paying for police and waste water it is less the $1,500,000 that is the number…. If you like I will meet you at city hall and we can sit with Karen, and she can walk you through the numbers…
The city should be spending more, the bed and sales tax is way up and over budget. the city can now start long over due projects.
That is how good government works, new roads ,paving, clean streets.
Tony one more time show us you budget, and tell us how Sedona will be better? spending less…. “T” party Tony.
just some facts
Home Rule (Alternative Expenditure Limitation}
What is the Local Alternative Expenditure Limitation, or “Home Rule” Option?
The State of Arizona Constitution imposes a formula-based budget spending limit on Arizona cities and towns, including the City of Sedona.
This formula-based spending limit does not take into consideration the services and programs provided to citizens by each city or town, such as public safety, water and roadway infrastructure.
As an alternative to this formula-based limit, the State Constitution allows voters of a municipality to approve a Local Alternative Expenditure Limitation, otherwise known as the “Home Rule” Option.
The Local Alternative Expenditure Limitation, or “Home Rule” Option allows a city or town to adopt its own budget limits locally-based on local needs, service levels and available resources.
A “YES” vote on Home Rule would allow City of Sedona to continue to set its own budget spending limits locally via the budget adoption process.
A “NO” vote would limit the Town expenditures to the State-imposed formula limit, resulting in a 50% reduction in Town services, beginning in fiscal year 2019/20. Budgeted expenditures would be limited to no more than $24 million. However, if you remove exempted debt service, grants and highway funds, spending for city services would be capped at $13.5 million which would translate into a severe reduction of City services, including police, parks and recreation, streets and roads maintenance, transit services, development services, and water utility services.
Forecasted 2019/20 income for spending on City services is $49.5 million which includes $10 million for Transporation Improvements as part of the cities $30 million dollar “Sedona in Motion” plan to address traffic, transportation, and tourism crowding issues.
Did You Know?
The Local Alternative Expenditure Limitation Option is not an increase or decrease in tax rates. Funding estimates are based on existing income sources that the City already receives.
These income sources would continue to be received by the City under the State-imposed budget limit, but could not be spent in the full delivery of services to the community.
The City of Sedona does not impose a local property tax.
Want to learn more about the cities planned $30 Million Dollar Transportation, Improvement projects to address traffic, transportation, and tourism crowding issues, go to SedonaAZ.gov/sim
And remember, the bulk of the cost of the $30 million dollar projects is being paid for by new income from the 1/2% sales tax increase which the majority is paid by tourists, not local residents. And remember, if Home Rule is not voted for on August 28, 2018, then the city would lose the ability to use most of these funds and planned projects would be stopped.
Every time Steve Segner mentions “T party,” I read this to be “Truth party.”
The last paragraph of Segner’s latest rant is reason enough to vote NO on Home Rule – it will stop the planned connector road project, which would turn my and my neighbor’s quiet residential streets — where children are playing as I write — into a crowded freeway.
The city has had it’s way with Home Rule long enough — and they have abused the privilege of having a check book with no checks and balances. They need to be reigned in from the wasteful spending. The city provides 2 services — police and sewer — and the police has promised more tickets and the city uses the sewer as their personal money making scheme.
We have had ENOUGH with timeshare and hotels calling the shots. Segner blames ALL of Sedona’s woes on Airbnb and SB 1350, but citizens were complaining about the traffic way back in the 1980’s — which was when the thought of a bridge at Red Rock Crossing was first brought up. The county decided NOT to build the bridge because it would destroy the very iconic spot that tourists come to see, not to mention the extraordinary costs that Arizona citizens as far away as Phoenix would have to pay for since it is county, not city, with their tax bill.
The sales and bed taxes are way too high in Sedona. My friends and family stay in Airbnb’s in the village or Cottonwood and they shop in the village or Cottonwood to avoid paying them. So do other savvy travelers. And there aren’t 1000 airbnb’s in Sedona – there is barely 6000 homes in Sedona and that would mean 1 in 5 is an Airbnb. And BTW – the Marriott is rolling out a program to be another Airbnb (if you can’t beat them, join them!).
Bottom line here : what ever Segner says, the opposite is true.