Minutes 04/21/25 Study Session

MINUTES 
 
WICKENBURG COMMON COUNCIL 
STUDY SESSION MEETING 
Monday, April 21, 2025 - 3:00 P.M. 
155 N. TEGNER - COUNCIL CHAMBERS 
WICKENBURG, ARIZONA 85390 
 
A. CALL TO ORDER – Mayor Bratcher called the meeting to order at 3:03 PM 
 
B. ROLL CALL 
Present: 
Mayor BG Bratcher  
Vice Mayor Brian Jones 
Councilmember Kristy Bedoian (Arrived at 3:07 PM) 
Councilmember Shawn Clark  
Councilmember Margaret Nyberg 
Councilmember Rebecca Rovey 
Councilmember Art Rubash 
Staff Present: 
Troy Smith, Interim Town Manager 
Trish Stuhan, Town Attorney 
Tim Suan, Deputy Town Manager/Economic Development 
Steve Boyle, Community Development Director 
Amy Brown, Town Clerk 
Les Brown, Police Chief 
Robert Martinez, Finance Director 
Tarah Mayerhofer, Human Resources Director 
Ed Temerowski, Fire Chief 
Herschel Workman, Public Works Director 
 
C. NEW BUSINESS 
 
1. Discussion and Direction to Staff Regarding the Proposed Draft Budget and 
Capital Improvement Plan for Fiscal Year 2025-26 
 
Troy Smith, Interim Town Manager, reported that this is a continuation of the 
meeting on April 7th with this being workshop 2 regarding the budget. The next 
step will be the tentative budget that has been moved back to May 19th and the 
final budget possibly on June 16th or July 7th or at a special meeting.  
 
Tarah Mayerhofer, HR Director, reported back on the town manager’s 
recommendation for employee increases as there was a question on the cost 
and the Employment Cost Index (ECI). Step one was to move everyone up with a

Town Council Minutes of April 21, 2025 
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market adjustment of 4% which will cost an estimated $350,000. Step 2 was to 
increase all with more than five years of service in their current role to the mid-
point of their range. This step will affect 18 employees, at a cost of approximately 
$118,000. Step 3 was to move anyone, that is not at 86% Compa-Ratio to 86%, 
which affects 4 employees, for a cost of approximately $5,000. The total cost for 
the three steps is $473,000. The steps will be completed in order, so anyone 
moving to mid-point will not also receive a 4% increase. The Employment Cost 
Index (ECI) measures the change in the hourly labor costs to employers over 
time. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) provides this information. Compa-
Ratio, also known as a comparison ratio, is a metric that compares an 
employee's salary to the midpoint of their salary range, or the midpoint of a 
market-based salary range for a similar role. She sent Council a memo regarding 
the market comparison of other agencies with 33 responses.  
 
Tim Suan, Deputy Town Manager, reported on the Foundation for Senior Living 
(FSL) contract that is added into the budget each year.  
• 
In spring 2022, the Town of Wickenburg was informed that Maricopa County 
would centralize CAP services through its online portal, ending local office 
support in Wickenburg. The town provided FSL $60,000 in funding in 2022. 
• 
FY23 and FY24 - The town received $60,000 in "Community Impact Grants" 
from Maricopa County— In addition, The town continued its own local 
contribution of $60,000, making the total contribution from the town 
$120,000.   
o FY25 - The town increased its local funding to FSL from $60,000 to $120,000 
(no funding from Maricopa County), however the town has discovered that as 
of February 2025, Maricopa County has restored $30,000 in funding to FSL 
for CAP services, through its Peoria contract.  
• 
Performance Report - "In 2024, FSL reports continued delivery of key 
services in Wickenburg, including nearly $20,000 in direct CAP assistance 
and 990 referrals to Maricopa County, with a current focus on navigation 
services. The Senior Center Café served 29,310 meals in FY23, with 
increased engagement in congregate dining. Food bank distributions grew 
significantly from 258,292 to 347,736 pounds. Additionally, the Wickenburg 
Freedom Express provided 5,942 free rides and traveled 24,611 miles, with 
ongoing growth in ridership as more seniors rely on the service for 
transportation and independence." 
• 
FY26 - The Town proposes returning the FSL contract amount to $60,000 in 
local funding 
• 
FSL requests the town consider a FY26 grant/contract of $98,431 for services 
delivered by FSL/AllThrive 365, to seniors and families and add an additional 
$24,000 added to council contingency, to assist FSL should rumors of 
diminished Health and Human Services funds that support senior centers and 
home delivered meals come to fruition. FSL has changed its name to 
AllThrive 365 moving away from senior only assistance.  
• 
FY26 - Maricopa County will increase funding to FSL to $72,744 and in 
addition to servicing Peoria, Youngtown and Wickenburg; FSL will also serve

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Carefree/Cave Creek, Anthem, Morristown, and Aguila, sharing expenses 
across all service areas. Cave Creek and Carefree service area is new to FSL 
and will add to expenses for the Peoria Contract, according to an email from 
Lory Loredo. 
 
Mayor Bratcher requested the town funds be used for Wickenburg residents, not 
residents in other areas, or for a new location in Cave Creek and Carefree. She 
would like them to break out to show the number of Wickenburg residents that 
they serve. Interim Town Manager Smith stated that staff are proposing to move 
from an annual report to quarterly reports and ask for more details. Otherwise, 
the annual report comes in after the Council has had to make the decision 
regarding the funding for the next year. The issue might be that FSL pools their 
funds for all their locations and doesn’t distinguish between Wickenburg 
residents and other residents.  
 
Councilmember Bedoian would like to know what other communities provide to 
FSL. FSL was supposed to take care of the seniors since the town doesn’t have 
a senior center. Now they have changed their name and are offering family 
services.  
 
Mayor Bratcher would prefer to give them $60,000 next year and have them 
provide reports showing where the funds are going and how they are serving 
Wickenburg residents. Interim Town Manager Smith stated that the contract says 
that the funds are for Wickenburg residents, however their reports don’t say how 
many Wickenburg residents they serve as they include people from Aguila, 
Congress and Morristown.  
 
Consensus of Council was to reduce the amount back to the $60,000 and 
request reports that show how they serve Wickenburg residents and how much 
other communities (Youngtown, Carefree, Cave Creek, Anthem, Morristown, and 
Aguila) are funding FSL. The Council also wants to receive quarterly reports with 
more information, specifically the service for Wickenburg residents.  
 
Tim Suan, Deputy Town Manager, moved on to the FSL Freedom Express 
program. The Freedom Express is the senior transportation in Wickenburg that is 
paid partially by the town’s Local Transportation Assistance Fund (LTAF) funds. 
On November 18, 2024, the Council authorized the Town Manager to execute a 
contract with FSL for the Freedom Express program, that new draft contract is 
now complete and ready to be signed. This contract approved up to an additional 
$15,000 of funding per year for three years to cover all vehicle-related expenses: 
lease, insurance, fuel, and maintenance for a total estimated annual program 
cost of $28,000. In the past the town passed along LTAF funds of approximately 
$16,500 annually and FSL and the Salvation Army paid the costs. With the new 
agreement, the town retains the LTAF funds of approximately $16,500 annually 
to cover all the costs of the vans. FSL is responsible for staffing and finding 
volunteer drivers and related expenses.

Town Council Minutes of April 21, 2025 
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Mayor Bratcher stated that she thinks that they go outside the town five miles to 
offer services. In addition, the agreement doesn’t consider that they raise 
approximately $17,000 with the Salvation Army bell ringing and might receive 
money from Yavapai County for transportation. None of this was reported to the 
town when they asked for more money.  
 
Consensus of Council was to not sign the new agreement until FSL presents 
information regarding other funding sources for the Freedom Express along with 
ridership information such as the number served, number of Wickenburg 
residents and whether it is for seniors only or what demographic is served.  
 
Tim Suan, Deputy Town Manager, next moved on to the Bed Tax Funding 
Agreements that are designated for marketing and economic development. The 
distribution takes the previous fiscal year’s actual revenues, subtracts the town’s 
operating expenses (FY24 operating expenses: $25,000 Façade Improvement 
Grant, $10,000 Marketing II Grant, $5,500 Devore Statues and 5% toward 
contingency) and the remainder is distributed equally at 33.3% on or before Aug 
1 to the Chamber of Commerce, Desert Caballeros Western Museum, and Del E. 
Webb Center for the Performing Arts to be used for marketing. The expiration of 
all three agreements is July 1, 2026.  
 
Councilmember Bedoian thought that the town should also take out money for 
the town’s events for marketing. Deputy Town Manager Suan stated that those 
events are covered by the General Fund in the recreation budget. These are for 
those organizations to market their events.  
 
Deputy Town Manager Suan reported that an example is the Chamber funding 
agreement where they will receive $66,347 in FY26 to be used to advertise 
Wickenburg or Wickenburg Special Events in publications or media with 10,000+ 
exposure. The special events include Gold Rush Days, Street Dance & Food 
Truck Fest, Fiesta de September, Bluegrass Festival, Cowboy Christmas Poetry 
Gathering, Christmas Parade of Lights, and trade shows. Funds may be used for 
brochures, guides, billboards, and other promotional materials and the Town of 
Wickenburg must be listed as a sponsor in all materials funded by town dollars. 
An annual report must be submitted each year, detailing the use of the funds and 
marketing efforts. The report shall also include the total number of website visits 
recorded, including traffic to WickenburgChamber.com and 
OutWickenburgWay.com. It should also include a description of trade shows 
attended, the number of visitors to the Wickenburg Visitor Center, and the 
number of tourism-related telephone inquiries received. The town is proposing 
changes from annual reporting to quarterly reporting and requires proof of 
publication, invoices, and receipts. The additional reporting is to have them 
include number of impressions/views, engagement numbers for digital 
advertising, and an economic impact narrative.

Town Council Minutes of April 21, 2025 
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There are also bed tax sponsorship agreements. In July 2024, the Town Council 
approved a renewal of the Chamber Sponsorship Agreement, in the amount of 
$65K and extended the term of the contract from 1 year to 3 years, ending on 
June 30, 2027. These funds can only be used in support of Gold Rush Days, 
Bluegrass Festival, Christmas Light Parade, and two Tourism Trade Shows. The 
funding is limited to marketing, promotion, and the operation of special events for 
upcoming fiscal years. The Chamber must keep and maintain attendance 
records for the events and provide the data to the town on a quarterly basis or 
after each special event. 
 
The next agreement is the Train Depot Rental of suite A, which holds the visitor 
center. The Chamber may use the building in exchange for running it as an 
Official Visitor Center, compliant with the Arizona Office of Tourism (AOT). The 
Chamber is responsible for all repairs, maintenance, and cleaning inside the 
building. The Chamber must promote all businesses in town, businesses within 
two miles of town limits, and local tourist attractions at the Visitor Center. The 
Chamber must operate the VisitWickenburg.com (OutWickenburgWay.com) 
website in cooperation with the town, however this website is not operable. The 
Visitor Center is currently not consistently open on weekends and major holidays. 
At least twice a year, the Chamber must present a report to Town Council 
showing Visitor Center activity and compliance with AOT guidelines. This 
agreement ends June 22, 2026. 
 
Vice Mayor Jones stated that the Chamber of Commerce does a better job than 
the town at marketing. He thought that requiring them to be open more was a 
good idea. Interim Town Manager Smith stated that in the past they were 
required to be open seven days per week, but the AOT standards have changed, 
so they are meeting those standards. The town can set up their own standards to 
require them to be open on weekends and holidays.  
 
Consensus of Council was to amend the requirements to have them have to be 
open at least on Saturday and Monday holidays for more than just 10:00 am – 
2:00 pm, with a preference for them being open on Sundays also during the 
season. The Council also wanted the Chamber to get into compliance by having 
the website VisitWickenburg.com operational with a deadline for that compliance, 
but left it to staff to set the deadline.  
 
Deputy Town Manager Suan reported that the Train Depot Rental of suite B has 
the Chamber of Commerce office space. In 2021 the Chamber agreement 
specified market value lease payment for the space. In 2023 the lease 
agreement was modified for a reduction in lease amount. In 2024 the lease 
agreement was modified to $1 a year in recognition that the Chamber invested 
over $500,000 in improvements to the space. The term of this agreement ends 
July 21, 2027.

Town Council Minutes of April 21, 2025 
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This past year the Council approved new sponsorship agreements with the Del E 
Webb Center and Desert Caballeros Western Museum for $5,000 and $4,000 
per year respectfully. There were one-year terms on those agreements, so they 
expire on June 30, 2025. Those were funded through the Bed Tax Contingency 
funds with any payments back to the town for services to go back into the Bed 
Tax contingency. The contractor must submit a report to the town by May 1, 2025 
(at least 60 days before the agreement ends). The report must include visitor 
attendance and impact on local businesses, quality of life impact summary of 
events, meetings, and activities organized, and their public benefits. These 
sponsorships were for specific events where those entities pay the town for 
services such as Guys Who Grill and Cowgirl Up.  
 
Consensus of the Council was to extend the time to be on the same schedule as 
the Chamber sponsorship agreement, so it will expire in 2027, at which time they 
will all be reviewed.  
 
Interim Town Manager Smith reported that the Bed Tax Fund Contingency is 
currently $298,470. He has proposed a project for some improvements at the 
swimming pool using approximately $222,000 of those funds. The first would be 
to replace grass surface in two areas to eliminate issues with the chemicals due 
to grass getting into the pool and add shade structures for families and guests at 
a cost of $80,000. The second project would be to add a pool heater to extend 
the swimming pool season to hopefully March to October at a cost of $142,000, 
which doesn’t include utility relocation but does include a cover. He gave them 
three funding options, if Council wishes to proceed with the project in FY26: 
• Charge 100% of Project Cost as an annual operating expense – eliminates 
available funding for marketing contracts  
• Charge 50% to operating & 50% to the fund contingency – results in 57% 
reduction in Bed Tax Marketing Funding 
• Charge 100% of the Project Cost to Contingency – leaves marketing funding 
whole for FY26 
 
Vice Mayor Jones suggested possibly looking at using it on the fields, instead of 
the swimming pool. Interim Town Manager Smith stated that there has to be a 
nexus to bring in people from outside as it needs to be for economic 
development. Town Attorney Stuhan stated that Bed Tax can be used for 
hospitality and tourism including developing, maintaining and operating town 
facilities for tourism.  
 
Consensus of the Council was to fund up to $222,000 for both projects from the 
Bed Tax Contingency during the next fiscal year with utility relocation coming 
from another place in the budget, as they don’t want to affect the current 
agreements nor deplete the contingency line item. Public Works Director 
Workman stated that the projects won’t take place until after the swimming 
season this year.

Town Council Minutes of April 21, 2025 
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Robert Martinez, Finance Director, reported on revenues for the General Fund 
year to date with construction revenues down 53%, income tax is down 40.5% 
because of legislative changes. The overall revenues are down by about 18%. 
The chart shows the actual figures from last year at this time compared to the 
mid-April numbers for this fiscal year. The budget shows a shift in revenue 
projections to not stay flat but reduce the local sales tax by $1 million.  
 
 
  
Councilmember Bedoian requested the percentage as a column to give them a 
better idea with it being 75% through the fiscal year.  
 
Finance Director Martinez shows a chart with the year-to-date expenditures and 
includes a line for a new operating contingency. This budget does include the 4% 
employee increase as well as the other steps for dealing with the compression 
issues in salaries. Interim Town Manager Smith stated that this new operating 
contingency includes some funding taken out of different departments’ budgets 
for what if costs for more cost control. If those funds are needed, this contingency 
will be under the Town Manager’s authority to address the costs that arise. This 
will also give the Town Manager the ability to approve items that are in the

Town Council Minutes of April 21, 2025 
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budget, without having to come back to the Council, to speed up the approval 
process.  
 
 
 
Finance Director Martinez stated that the town is still waiting for the property tax 
numbers from the counties. Council direction at the last study session was to 
keep the levy at $600,000 and reduce the rate.  
 
Finance Director Martinez then provided some fund balance information: 
• 
Restricted Projected End of Year Fund Balance - $22,068,517 
✓ Contingency $3,173,744 
✓ Capital Reserve $1,000,000 
✓ Reserve $5,394,773 (at 30%) – policy is 15% 
• 
Unrestricted Fund Balance - $12.5M 
 
Mayor Bratcher would like to use some of that unrestricted fund balance on some 
of the capital projects, but would like to review the list.  
 
D. EXECUTIVE SESSION - (Council May Vote to Go Into Executive Session Pursuant 
to A.R.S §38-431.03(A)(3) to Receive Legal Advice from the Town Attorney on Any 
of the Above Agenda Items.)

Town Council Minutes of April 21, 2025 
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E. ADJOURNMENT  
 
MOVED BY Councilmember Rebecca Rovey to adjourn at approximately 5:06 PM 
SECONDED BY Councilmember Margaret Nyberg  
VOTE: 7 – 0 (Yes – Mayor Bratcher, Vice Mayor Jones, Councilmembers Bedoian, 
Clark, Nyberg, Rovey, and Rubash) 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
         BG Bratcher, Mayor 
ATTEST: 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Amy Brown, Town Clerk 
 
CERTIFICATION 
 
I, Amy Brown, the duly appointed and qualified Town Clerk of the Town of Wickenburg, 
do hereby certify that the foregoing minutes are a true and correct copy of the minutes 
of the special meeting of the Town Council of Wickenburg, Arizona held on April 21, 
2025. I further certify the meeting was duly called and held and that a quorum was 
present.  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Amy Brown, MMC 
Town Clerk