“Here we go again,” said Councilman Mike Zinkin referring to the ever changing methods and numbers presented at the Oro Valley Town Council’s meeting this week. On Sunday, Zinkin and fellow councilmembers Bill Garner and Brendan Burns will discuss those numbers and methodologies at the Council on Your Corner this Sunday at the Oro Valley Library from 1:00 – 3:00 p.m. This is not a town sponsored event.
The Town is struggling with the mounting losses related to the purchase of the El Conquistador County Club and golf courses in a secretive deal crafted by Mayor Satish Hiremath and councilmembers Joe Hornat, Mary Snider, and Vice-Mayor Lou Waters last year.
Through January, the Town’s sales tax revenues are behind by 5 percent, the bed tax revenues are behind by 7 percent and the community and recreation revenues are down by 11 percent. Nevertheless, the Finance Department continues to profess that revenues are “on track except for construction” and that the revenue sources in the Community Center Fund, including golf revenues and the half-cent sales tax, are seasonal in nature and typically increase through the second half of the fiscal year.
The Town’s finances have been a point of contention for Zinkin, Garner and Burns who are watchdogs for the taxpayers. For his part, Hiremath argued at this week’s meeting that the small details of the budget are not “policy issues” and therefore should not be a subject for discussion.
Hiremath argued that the budget was an issue to be tended to by Town Manager Greg Caton and his staff. Caton is leaving Oro Valley and heading for higher ground in Grand Junction, Colorado.
The total losses from the country club and golf courses are expected to be over $2.5 million dollars this year.