Candidate Questionnaire

Cheryl Kroyer: 

Yes, this publicly vetted document is a work in progress.  The plan does not seek to change the identity of Carefree.  It seeks to maintain our quality residential neighborhoods for which we are known.  However, it seeks to find complementing parts that will help to enhance our sales tax centric financial model and help offset the need to raise additional taxes.  Contextually, the plan is focused on areas which have non-residential uses and by finding ways to generate revenue and minimize disruption to any nearby residential areas.  In doing so, our Economic Development Director has worked hand in hand with nearby neighbors and property owners to address their thoughts and concerns to cultivate viable options.

Mike Johnson: 

Yes I support the plan. Carefree only has about 2% of its land available for commercial development. With 60% of the town’s budget coming from local sales taxes and no property tax, it’s important we find the right balance between economic development and quality of life. Our Economic Development Director has worked hard with residents, businesses and landowners to identify opportunities to meet the fiscal realities of the town, while maintaining and enhancing the quality of life of our residents.  While it is very difficult to make every resident and stake holder happy, the Economic Development plan tries to thread that needle.  

The plan identifies the long-term fiscal needs of the town and lays out in detail each parcel that can be developed and a specific revenue target. While some candidates have criticized the economic development efforts and plans of the town, none have laid out any specific alternatives on how they would provide the funding the town will require to meet its obligations and the needs of its citizens into the future. The reality is governing requires difficult decisions and tough choices. 

Vince D’Aliesio: 

Our economic development director has worked tirelessly to involve local business owners and residents in examining our downtown core and the best possible use of space, while also examining introducing recreational areas for pedestrians to easily move through town.

The revenue projections given regarding our downtown core and revenue generated as a result of our new anchor tenant, the Hampton Inn, would benefit the town in continuing to function without a property tax. The potential rezoning of commercial attractive parcels in our town will also aid in continuing to thrive without additional tax burdens placed on residents. We as a community must participate in this process to fully understand how we can benefit from actions that our economic development director is proposing. The process will continue to be made public, so that residents will have an opportunity to participate.

Sheila Amoroso: 

Yes, though the plan is process driven, has received public input and a lot of work has been done so far, there are still many decisions to be made.  I would expect the plans to shift based on community input, economic conditions, and potential budget requirements from the town.

There are four major development projects outlined in the latest Economic Development Strategic Work Plan. Two projects are on private property and adjacent to residential neighborhoods.  One on the NE corner of Cave Creek Rd and Carefree Highway and the one on the NW corner of Carefree Highway and Tom Darlington Dr.  The other two projects are directly town related as one is the redevelopment of the downtown area and one is the potential development of state-owned property south of Sky Ranch Airport. 

A high level of community outreach and input will be a necessary component to finalizing these projects.

Tony Geiger:

I support the plan.  Carefree only has 2% of its land available for commercial development.  With 60% of the town budget coming from local sales taxes and no primary property tax, it is vital we find the right balance between economic development and quality of life.  Our Economic Development Director has worked tirelessly with residents, businesses and land owners to identify opportunities to meet the fiscal realities of the town, while maintaining and enhancing the quality of life of our residents.  While it is very difficult to make every resident and stake holder happy, the Economic Development plan tries to thread that needle.  

The plan identifies the long-term fiscal needs of the town and lays out in detail each parcel that can be developed and a specific revenue target.  While some candidates have criticized the economic development efforts and plans of the town, none have laid out any specific alternatives on how they would provide the funding the town will require to meet its obligations and the needs of its citizens into the future.  The reality is governing requires difficult decisions and tough choices.  

Glen Grossman: 

There are many projects and initiatives for consideration. The list is extensive, NEC of Carefree Highway and Cave Creek Rd, NWC of Tom Darlington and Carefree Highway, 45 acres south of Sky Ranch., downtown revitalization, Town Hall relocation and more use of the Amphitheater. This is a huge list of projects for our town and each one needs careful consideration. But no property taxes! The town must develop in a responsible way, consistent with our current aesthetic character and without property taxes. Development must pay for itself.

Stephen Hatcher: 

Yes, I voted to support this economic development plan and support the overall goal of developing prudent economic resources for the town while maintaining the tranquil and relaxing atmosphere of our neighborhoods.  

Mike Johnson: 

I do and yes, it was. The town has been forced to look to alternatives to its historical arrangement of contracting with Rural Metro and being part of Mutual Aid. The surrounding fire departments of Scottsdale and Daisy Mountain Fire notified the town that they will no longer have contractual Mutual Aid agreements with Rural Metro. This does not mean they will not come in an emergency, but we will no longer have a predictable financial arrangement with them.  First responders will still respond!  We are now being forced to take a hard look at upgrading to the Automatic Aid system. This has the potential to double the cost of the Town’s fire protection service in the next couple of years. Best practices in municipal financial management and the conservative approach is to have reoccurring revenues to meet reoccurring financial obligations.

The town has taken the approach of doing the proper due diligence prior to making such a major financial commitment.  The proposed contract from Daisy Mountain is for 25 years with up to 5% cost increases per year for the first 5 years and no commitment on cost controls after that.

Vince D’Aliesio: 

The Cave Creek-Rancho Manana Fire in 2020 was an eye-opening experience and demonstrated why the move to automatic aid is crucial. 

We have three options:

1. Contract with City of Scottsdale Fire Department
2. Contract with Daisy Mtn Fire
3. Start our own Carefree Fire Department

All three options will cause an increase in cost over our current arrangement with Rural Metro, but neighboring departments no longer will recognize automatic aid with Rural Metro. We know the cost of options 1 and 2, we need to continue to explore option 3 to determine if we can administratively manage the additional internal staff and do it in a manner that will save us the most money in the long run.

Sheila Amoroso: 

I was a member of the Public Safety Advisory Committee (PSAC). We reviewed options for our public safety contracts and how to pay for them.  Exploring automatic aid was a recommendation. The PSAC finalized the report in March of 2022. It is available on the Carefree website.

Neither Scottsdale nor Daisy Mountain will enter a mutual aid agreement with us.  Though Scottsdale agreed they would respond to any life safety incident in Carefree.  

The preliminary costs for automatic aid are substantially higher than our current fire contract. We know we will need higher recurring revenues to pay for the increased costs. Approximately 60% of our revenues come from sales taxes which are volatile over economic cycles. The town hired consultants to do a deeper dive on revenues and model future revenues based on various economic scenarios so when we sign a contract, we know we can pay for it. This represents good public policy.

A fire consultant has been hired to help us determine the best fit for fire service for our town as well.  The next stage will be to reach out to the community for a discussion on the findings from the PSAC and consultants.  I fully support these actions.

Tony Geiger: 

I do and yes, it was. The town has been forced to look to alternatives to its historical arrangement of contracting with Rural Metro and being part of Mutual Aid. The surrounding fire departments of Scottsdale and Daisy Mountain Fire notified the town that they will no longer have contractual Mutual Aid agreements with Rural Metro. This does not mean they will not come in an emergency, but we will no longer have a predictable financial arrangement with them.  First responders will still respond!  We are now being forced to take a hard look at upgrading to the Automatic Aid system.  This has the potential to double the cost of the Town’s fire protection service in the next couple years.  Best practices in municipal financial management and the conservative approach is to have reoccurring revenues to meet reoccurring financial obligations.

The town has taken the approach of doing the proper due diligence prior to making such a major financial commitment.  The proposed contract from Daisy Mountain is for 25 years with up to 5% cost increases per year for the first 5 years and no commitment on cost controls after that.  We need to look before we leap.

Glen Grossman: 

As a 17-year resident (32 for my wife), I believe that Rural Metro has done an excellent job keeping us safe for many decades. They are a lower cost fire and emergency services provider than the districts with automatic aid. We now have two fully staffed engines in Carefree: 821 and 825. We should keep those and not adopt automatic aid. With two engine companies in our own firehouse, Rural Metro can provide low-cost service with “internal aid” back-up. Nearby Cave Creek has spent millions on their new fire department and their service is no better than ours.

The cost overruns of the Fire Fund disappeared last year. Now that the Hampton Inn is open, we should receive more revenue from bed tax and indirectly, sales tax. There is no need to re-engineer the payment for town services. The higher expense of an automatic aid provider could lead to public support for property taxes, which I strongly oppose.

Stephen Hatcher: 

Making a change from Mutual Aid to Automatic Aid is not something the town is initiating.  The change is being driven by our neighboring towns.  Fortunately, Rural Metro will continue to serve our community while we take the next 2-3 years to develop a solid plan.  A fire department is commonly the most expensive line item for a municipality.  This decision for automatic aid is expected to increase our fire services budget by $1.0M.  The hiring of a consultant to evaluate and compare how a town of our size can meet this challenge was necessary.  We all must recognize that the long term success of a company or a municipality is how revenue is generated and liabilities are satisfied on a consistent basis.  The needs of the community are ongoing every hour of the day.  Consequently, a municipality should not attempt to match a consistent obligation, fire protection, with just sales tax revenue as this revenue is dependent upon economic cycles.  

Cheryl Kroyer: 

Automatic Aid is the gold standard in fire protection.  This past year we had a safety committee, comprised of Town citizens, do a complete study of fire protection and what is best for Carefree.  Coming out of their recommendations, we have retained seasoned experts in Fire and emergency services, public policy and financial analysis to evaluate Carefree’s options to consider participating in Automatic Aid.

It is important to note, when Carefree assumed the original master contract with Rural Metro thereby relieving Town residents of paying annual individual subscriptions, the Town initiated an increased 1% retail sales tax and approved a Lowe’s doing business on the west side of Town.  Those 2 decisions helped to fund the master contract over the last 15 years.  Similarly, as a community we must collectively evaluate this future data which will be provided by these experts on how to absorb these recurring expenses and how to cover them in a financially responsible and solvent manner.