Proposition 443 Update

Proposition 443 is working!
It is refreshing to look back over the past year and see the progress the City of Prescott has made in stabilizing our General Fund. Many remember the burden created by the $78M Unfunded Liability debt created by the Public Safety Personnel Retirement System (PSPRS). Previous Prescott City Councils had struggled with how to pay the Annual Required Contribution (ARC) while maintaining much needed services that create our special quality of life in Prescott. City staff was reduced drastically, library hours were cut, fire stations were browned out and our police department was understaffed. City turnover was very high. Our beautiful community seemed crippled by this burdening debt. Some were even calling for bankruptcy.

Early spring 2017, the City Council decided to refer a ballot question to the voters of Prescott, asking them to consider a 3/4 of a penny sales tax increase to be dedicated solely to paying down the PSPRS Unfunded Lability. The sales tax question was scheduled for the city primary election on August 29th. One of the most significant next steps was the creation of a political action committee, Stand For Prescott, by a group of highly motivated, committed and very diverse grass-roots citizens. Our goal was to raise money and educate the voters about the need to pass Proposition 443. “Yes on 443” signs were everywhere!

I credit “Prescott Living Magazine” with much of our success. We had a two page article in the inaugural edition that explained the issue of the Unfunded Liability, Proposition 443, and the need to pass the sales tax increase. We took the magazine everywhere and passed out hundreds of copies at our meetings and events.
After much debate and many, many informative community meetings throughout the spring and summer, Prescott voters approved Proposition 443, raising our city sales tax by three-fourths of a penny beginning in January 2018.
Once Prop 443 passed, the City Council felt confident in using some of the General Fund reserves to make a large payment of $11 Million to PSPRS in September 2017.  The city also sold assets totaling more than $600,000 in order to pay more toward the Unfunded Liability debt. The city has continued to make the Annual Required Contribution (ARC) of $5,319,758 from the General Fund.

Just a few weeks ago the city was notified that the January revenue generated by the 3/4 cent dedicated PSPRS tax from passing Prop 443 was $910,298. Those monies were immediately wired down to pay toward our Unfunded Liability. The total contribution to PSPRS in FY18 as of March 25, 2018 is $17,834,681.
This progress toward stabilizing our General Fund would not be possible without the hard work of the Stand For Prescott team, the positive support from our citizens in passing Prop 443, and the continued commitment from Mayor Mengarelli, all of our City Council members and City Manager Michael Lamar on paying down this debt.  Monthly we will send the revenue generated by the 3/4 cent dedicated PSPRS tax and do everything we possibly can to continue paying the ARC out of the General Fund. This dedicated sales tax will sunset in 2028 or when the unfunded liability reaches $1.5M, which ever occurs first.
We encourage our state legislators to live up to their side of the bargain and to seek further reforms to the system making it more sustainable for our public safety personnel for generations to come. Those reforms can only be implemented by the Arizona State Legislature.
Yes, Prop 443 is working as we planned, and we will continue this progress as promised. I am forever grateful to the citizens of Prescott and the Stand for Prescott team that made this possible by saying Yes on 443!

Billie Orr
Mayor Pro Tem