To better explain my position we look at how property taxes are established.  We look at the variables: assessed property value, levy rate, and the revenue.  The city establishes the revenue, and based on assessed property values, the rate is flushed out in the equation.  Council’s question posed on June 14th and vetted on June 16th, was to decide whether the city should bring in the same amount of revenue from 2011, or decrease that revenue by 1.2 million dollars.  To better explain this, as Vice Mayor clearly outlined in the meeting,  if 50,000 homes paid 7.2 million in property taxes last year, the proposal from staff was to ensure that collectively those homes paid the SAME amount for next fiscal year.  However, the math to calculate this revenue fogs the question.  As assessed values decrease, the levy will need to increase in order to maintain this revenue stream.  By focusing on the levy rate itself, by maintaining this rate from 2011, the city cut its primary property tax revenue by 16%. 

Staff, in an assumption of what has been voted on in the past,  has not properly provided council with background on budgetary assumptions.   This year the process has been convoluted by politics and agendas, clouded by the mistrust that has come about due to the financial decisions of previous administrations.  Clearly a process needs to be laid out in terms of budgetary assumptions, establishing revenue streams, then a discussion of expenses, followed by prioritization of one-time expenditures as guided by the strategic plan.  Mayor and Council are ultimately responsible for the final decisions, but the process is the responsibility of management, and council must hold their feet to the fire to get this right!

The irony of all this, even at the agreed upon rate which Council approved and I rejected, if your assessed value went up, you are going to pay higher property taxes.  To climb even further into my logic you must recognize state law in regards to primary property tax revenue.  State law says no city can increase the revenue stream from this source by more than 2% annually.  Therefore, if you decrease this revenue source by 16%, then in future years raise it incrementally by the maximum allowable amount, based on market assumptions and predictions of stagnant growth, it would take Surprise nearly 8 years to get this revenue stream back to where it was originally budgeted for FY 2012.  A giant step backward for a cash poor city with so many needs.  This is obviously a simplified explanation, however if you cannot increase taxes by more than 2%, I would argue it is equally as irresponsible to decrease it by more than 2%.

Finally, I will not approve a budget that takes the cut in revenues, in the 11th hour,  out of our capacity to move forward.  The city, prior to this move to cut revenue, had 3 million in capacity to work on the strategic plan, prioritize for the future, and progress the city forward.  This MUST stay intact! Would a cash poor business cut their revenue streams and not expenses?  What family would voluntarily replace their revenue with money out of a child’s savings account?  If we pull that money away from the capacity, that is preciously what the city will be doing, forgoing the future in favor of today.

Amateur hour is over!  It’s time to become a more professional organization and display some fiscal stewardship.  By definition, stewardship means appropriate and sustainable, not synonymous with decrease or eliminate!  Politically unpopular, certainly, but quite often in politics you have to navigate through the loudest voice in the crowd to do the right thing.

You can now take the 303 to I-17!  This is just the beginning for us in Surprise.  The 303 will be an economic catalyst for our city and will be the driver of the Prasada Mall Development!

Graffiti in your Neighborhood:

One of the many issues we tackle in Surprise are the ongoing annoyances like graffiti, weeds, and blight.  We live in a new, clean, and safe city, and we want it to stay that way.  To ensure it does, we need folks to remain vigilant in terms of addressing things like graffiti.  The longer it takes to clean-up the more of a problem it becomes.  The graffiti “artists” are deterred when there work is immediately covered and/or erased.  While the city currently does not have the resources to be the entity that does this, residents can certainly take an active role.  PD is working on some creative solutions, and I hope to address some other ideas to council in the near future.  If you have any creative solutions to this problem, perhaps effective ways in which  you have witnessed other cities and towns address these issues, please feel free to contact me at anytime.  In the meantime, lets take pride in our surroundings and address these issues as best we can when they come up.

3rd Annual Surprise Youth Leadership Summit:

Summit went off without a hitch!  Continues to grow every year.  Check out our Keynote at the link below.  Students attending now have 2 weeks to submit their application and essay “What is Leadership?” to apply to the Surprise Youth Leadership Council.  The selected members will be recognized at a Council meeting in June. 

http://www.surpriseaz.gov/files/granicus/surprise11newprograms.html

Saturday, May 14th: 

Coffee with Council, 9AM, Surprise Council Meeting Room, behind the Council Chambers

Redistricting Schedule:

This is likely the single most important item for District 3 this year.  The committee is set to meet again tomorrow and will have 3 public meetings in June.  The meeting schedule is as follows:

• Sat, June 4: OTS, Villanueva Recreation Center, 15660 N. Hollyhock St. (10 a.m. – Noon)
• Mon, June 6: SCG, Sonoran Plaza- Palo Verde Room, 19753 N. Remington Dr. (6 – 8 p.m.)
• Wed, June 8: Sierra Montana Recreation Center, 14861 N. Spring Lane (6 – 8 p.m.)

As many know, the relevance of this to District 3 residents is in direct relation to the amount of representation on City Council.  As it stands right now, District 3 comprises 50% of the population of Surprise, while all other sections are represented by 5 other Council members.  To ensure that you and your interests are represented there must be balance.  Your presence at all 3 Public Outreach meetings is critical!!!  We are all busy, and our schedules often limit what we can and cannot participate in, but this is a “Call to Action” for District 3 residents.  Have your voice hear, don’t let apathy get in the way, make time, and be there for your community!

I has been a very busy week, and it is not slowing down. 

• Surprise Youth Summit:  The 3rd Annual Youth Summit is tomorrow at 8:30AM.  We are at capacity and I’m very anxious and excited for this years event, which will be the kickoff for the 2011-2012 Surprise Youth Leadership Council!  Download information regarding this event! Download the registration form.

• May 14th:  Coffee with Council, 9AM, Surprise Council Meeting Room, behind the Council Chambers.

• Budget summary:  The Positive:  There is capacity, a surplus!  For the first time in years we have capacity, which means that our revenue streams are more than our expenditures as budgeted for the upcoming fiscal year.  Improvement Areas:  I’m pushing to build consensus on priorities.  As we worked through the budget workshop we identified many gaps.  These needs have been unfunded over the years due to the economy, in conjunction with the fact that we failed to recognize these needs earlier in the decade, internally, as we caught our breath from the explosive growth that we sustained as a city.  These needs are coupled with another problem; recent state legislation surrounding the payback of city debt due to general government impact fees.  In essence, the legislation restricts how cities utilize impact fees.  It is an albatross to many cities statewide whom will continue to grow, and are counting on these types of funding sources to build roads, infrastructure, and improve quality of life.  As a small example, the legislation states that city’s cannot build libraries more then 10,000 square feet.  To put this number in perspective the Surprise branch on Bullard Avenue is over 20,000 square feet.  So according to this piece of legislation we would not be able to build this type of library in the future with these types of growth related funds. As a result the council will discuss, Tuesday, an action plan that will include how to address the state legislation, and identify clear priorities, or at least a strategy to identify ways to fill community gaps and achieve the goals established by our Strategic Plan.

• Arts and Cultural Board:  When I was a sophomore in High School my late Grandmother, Carmella Cresciullo, took me back to Italy to visit family and better identify myself with my family heritage.  Carmella was one of 6 in the Natoli family when my Great Grandparents brought them over from Messina, Italy.   It was a trip I will never forget, as I was able to explore up and down the countryside including Rome, the Vatican City, Sistine Chapel, the Roman Coliseum, the statue of David, the city of Pompeii, and more.  What I explored, what I remembered most, what has stood the test of time, was a rich history of Arts, Culture, and Community.  Many are concerned that I’m anti-arts and culture following the discussion at the budget retreat, this could not be further from the truth.  Now, more then ever, is the time to plan and ensure we are engraining this critical component into our community.  In 100 years we will not remember what the travel and training budget was for the city, nor the slurry seal project we funded for Bell Road, but we will look to the arts and culture of Surprise to define it’s history and it’s identity.  That said, throwing money at an issue just for the sake of throwing money at it, is not serving the city well as a steward of city resources, nor is it a reasonable way to plan for the future. I will remain consistent in my pledge that we must establish a plan of prioritization and ensure a plan is in place, and this Master Plan for the Arts and Cultural Board, and every board and commission, is aligned with the Strategic Plan for Surprise.  Without that we do not know how much we will need to invest to truly ensure arts and culture flourish in Surprise, perhaps the way it did when Michelangelo worked on the Sistine Chapel :)

Click here for the Marley Park Community Meetings flyer in reference to monthly meetings at Marley Park. City staff will be in attendance and I’ll be there to address any and all questions concerns, or just to chat. We’ve got a tremendously important week coming up in regards to formulating a draft budget, for which the process will continue through the next 2 months. That said, your feedback on priorities of city finances is so important! What’s important to you? Where should the council focus be? Come tell me! Feel free to pass this flyer on to family, friends, and neighbors!

Next, April 30th is the Relay for Life event at Valley Vista! I’ll be there and plan to complete 20 miles on the Valley track as I continue my marathon training! Running has taught me a valuable lesson, the greatest rewards come with only a tremendous effort! We need more volunteers and team members! Jacquelynn Caruso is a young lady, an elementary student at Canyon Ridge Elementary School, whom lost a close friend to Cancer. Councilmember Mike Woodard lost his wife to Cancer. Vice Mayor Skip Hall lost his wife to Cancer. Mayor Truitt lost his wife to cancer. I lost my idol to Cancer. He was a Firefighter from Brooklyn, NY, whom after he retired with 30 plus years in the NYFD, went back to school to become RN and continue to do his part helping people. It was my Grandfather, whom lost his battle to breast cancer just a few years ago!

We all have stories, some more personal then others, we’ve all been touched! Please support this tremendously important effort in anyway you can! If not the Caruso’s, then join a team, donate, do your part. This is not political, there is no agenda, it’s just about doing the right thing. If you want to Join Team Caruso, email Michele at crpto1@yahoo.com.

Dates: April 21, May 26, June 23
Time: 7pm
Location: Marley Park Pool House

For more information, contact me at 623.222.1323 or john.williams@surpriseaz.gov.

Download info flyer - Marley Park Community Meetings

For the past ten years, if you’ve lived here as long as I have, you’ve been a part of the largest growing geographical area of not just Surprise, or Maricopa County, but as the census data has shown, the entire state of Arizona!   I, like many of you, have been driving the argument to redistrict Surprise to ensure better representation.  When the exponential growth of our population came to a screeching halt sometime in 2007, this left District 3 residents with a representation of 1 per 50,000 residents, while many other locations to the east and north have the luxury of having more intimate relationships with their representatives, and in fact one community north of Bell Road has 2 votes on the dais in Surprise.

Well, our frustrations are coming to a close, the census numbers are back, and the council has selected a national redistricting firm, the National Demographics Corporation (NDC), with a 100% success rate to spearhead the effort to bring us back to one man, one vote.  As part of this effort, the city is forming a citizen lead Redistricting Committee.  The purpose and function will be to lead public input sessions and narrow the legal redistricting configurations to be presented to the Mayor and Council.  This ensures active community participation, and an open, transparent, process in establishing the new districts.  

This is a call to residents that wish to a part of this effort to ensure we have fair representation from the largest district in Surprise.  Please review my selection criteria below, and respond via email, john.williams@surpriseaz.gov, before Friday April 1, 2011. In selecting appointments I will be considering the following: 

1. Your subdivision, to ensure we are evenly spread throughout the district;
2. Your understanding of census tracking
3. Your commitment to the process, and understanding of it’s importance and relevance to equal representation in Surprise.

I know how busy life can be.  Believe me, a full time teaching position, my duties on council, taking my little ones to religious education classes, swim school, coaching my sons little league team, and ensuring their doing their homework and not spending too much time on the Wii,  I get “busy,”  I know what that’s all about!  All that said, I cannot emphasize enough the importance of this process, and the need for your involvement. 

Thank you all for your continued commitment to Surprise, and your consideration to partake in this effort. 

Click here to download and review the NDC.

Have a great day and look forward to hearing from you!

Thanks!

John

Planning Meeting Agenda

1. Surprise Community Pride Day Saturday, 7:30AM, April 2nd, Surprise Stadium; times are not official
   1. 7AM: Check-in and Breakfast
      1. Volunteers will report to their Community Tables
      2. Volunteers will collect their gloves and bags
   1. 7:30AM: Clean-up begins
      1. Clean-up encompasses light trimming, weed and trash pick-up
      2. Please do not remove plants or plant additional items
      3. Bathrooms will not be available during the clean-up. Since most residents will be working within their own subdivision, they are encouraged to go home if necessary. Surprise Stadium bathrooms will be accessible.
      4. Water will be available
      5. All Captains will have mine and Christina’s Cell phone should questions arise, or should you need water or additional resources throughout the clean-up
   2. 10:AM: Clean-up ends, return all borrowed equipment back to the equipment trailer at Surprise Stadium
   3. Lunch will be available, as will some prizes to be raffled off
   4. 11:AM end of event
2. Sponsorships
   1. T-Shirts (MUST HAVE A VOLUNTEER TO COORDINATE SPONSORSHIP’S ASAP)
   2. Breakfast
   3. Lunch
   4. Gloves
   5. Trash Bags
3. Volunteers
   1. Communities will need a ratio of 4 volunteers to a home. So if you plan on cleaning 10 homes, you would anticipate seeking 40 volunteers to ensure this is completed in a timely manner
   2. All HOA’s are encouraged to contact their landscaping companies to be a part of the day’s events
4. Captains
   1. All communities will have leaders whom will be responsible for the following:
      1. Identifying the properties to be cleaned up and reporting these to City Staff no later than Friday, March 25th
      2. Recruiting volunteers for your community
      3. Recruiting Landscapers and garnering HOA support
      4. Arriving at 6:30AM for the morning Captains meeting on the day of the clean-up
      5. Delegating and running the clean-up within your community