Minutes 03/16/26 Study Session

MINUTES 
 
WICKENBURG COMMON COUNCIL 
STUDY SESSION 
Monday, March 16, 2026 - 3:00 P.M. 
155 N. TEGNER - COUNCIL CHAMBERS 
WICKENBURG, ARIZONA 85390 
 
A. CALL TO ORDER – Mayor Bratcher called the meeting to order at 3:06 PM 
 
B. ROLL CALL 
Present: 
Mayor BG Bratcher  
Vice Mayor Brian Jones 
Councilmember Kristy Bedoian 
Councilmember Shawn Clark  
Councilmember Margaret Nyberg 
Councilmember Art Rubash 
Absent: 
Councilmember Rebecca Rovey 
Staff Present: 
Troy Smith, Town Manager 
Trish Stuhan, Town Attorney 
Steve Boyle, Community Development Director 
Amy Brown, Town Clerk 
Cason Chambers, Public Works Director 
Ken Lutkiewicz, Police Lieutenant 
Robert Martinez, Finance Director 
Ed Temerowski, Fire Chief 
 
C. ITEMS OF BUSINESS 
 
1. Discussion and Direction to Staff Regarding FY27 Budget Preparation, Session 
#2 
 
Troy Smith, Town Manager, reported that this is budget session 2. They would 
like to start with a presentation from the Arizona Community Foundation.  
 
Hector Ramirez, Regional Advisory for Yavapai County, stated that the Arizona 
Community Foundation (ACF) is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization that was 
founded in 1978. They have $1.5B+ in charitable assets under their management 
with $109 million granted last year. They are one of the top 25 community 
foundations in US with less than 1% in operating expenses. Their mission is to 
lead, serve, and collaborate to mobilize enduring philanthropy for a better 
Arizona. They help build endowments to benefit communities for years to come

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with the goal of the funds lasting forever. They have seven locations serving 
Arizona only.  
 
Yavapai County Community Fund began in 1992 with $15,000. Today the fund 
balance is $1,553,530 and have provided $2,198,932.40 in grants over the past 
34 years. A community fund is an endowment set up for specific communities. 
Community Funds are a collective giving tool to enable one or multiple donors to 
pool charitable capital for greater impact. Considered discretionary funding, these 
funds are typically geographically bound to ensure funds are utilized for the 
community and by community that the fund was established to support. The 
community who sets up the fund can set the standards for the grants and decide 
who gets the grants. Community members can give to the community fund 
anonymously.  In addition to cash, donors can make gifts of appreciated stock, 
business holdings, real estate, art and collectables.  
 
Councilmember Rubash asked what the cut for ACF was. Mr. Ramirez 
responded that it is usually 4% unless it is more complex with 1% going to 
general operating expenses. All donations are tax deductible.  
 
Mayor Bratcher asked when the grant cycle was. Mr. Ramirez stated that it is 
different for each fund as that would be decided when setting up the fund as to 
the best time to give our funds, which is usually one time per year per fund. If the 
town does a community fund, the town will set the bylaws and select the board 
including rules and standards.  
 
Town Manager Smith asked the average rate of return. Mr. Ramirez stated that 
for long-term diversified the average return is 7.6%.  
 
Town Manager Smith stated that there are currently no funds in the budget for 
this, so if the Council wanted to start a community fund, it would need to be 
decided how much to put into the budget.  
 
Kathleen Crutchfield, Grants Administrator, stated that the town currently has 
three grants.  
 
The Commercial Façade Grant has the following to be determined:

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The Bed Tax Marketing Grant is being proposed to change to the Tourism 
Marketing Grant to better describe the grant with the following to be determined: 
 
 
The third grant we call the Community Support Grant, which was approved by 
Ordinance 1243, but no funding was ever designated for it, so each request has 
come to the Council. Staff would recommend setting a certain amount in the 
budget and awarding the grants once per year.  
 
 
Town Manager Smith stated that currently the Façade Grant is only for 
businesses with the idea of beautifying a building, so it could include non-profit 
organizations. The Community Support Grant the town could put in $50,000 and 
set up the process for awarding the grants or that could be turned over to ACF as 
a community grant. The bed tax is from a different fund, so it can’t go to ACF. 
ACF doesn’t fund fundraisers or events, so that would also limit what they can do 
since many of the requests are to support events. This would not include the 
three major organizations who have a contract for funds for marketing their 
events and it doesn’t include AllThrive365 as they have a contract to provide a 
service as none of those are grants.  
 
Consensus of Council was to look to possibly give $50,000-75,000 to ACF to 
start a community fund and put in $25,000 for the façade grant. Staff will bring 
back specifics on the grants, but needed to have an amount for the budget.

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Robert Martinez, Finance Director, needed Council input on the property tax rate 
and levy.  
 
Fiscal Year 2026 
o Levy - $615,000 
o Rate - .3997 
 
Fiscal Year 2027 Options 
o Levy - $628,450   Rate- .3856 
o Maintain Levy - $615,000, Rate .3773 
o Maintain Rate - $651,500, Rate .3997 - Truth in Taxation Required 
 
Consensus of Council was to max out the amount without doing the Truth in 
Taxation notifications, so that means levy at $628,450 and rate at .3856.  
 
Amy Brown, Town Clerk, reported that annually Council sets a new fee schedule 
through the budget process. Department Directors facilitate an annual review of 
fees and charges in their respective departments. The Town Manager has 
directed staff to set fees at cost recovery. Council maintains the authority to 
adjust fees to create revenue centers or subsidize programs and services. 
 
Steve Boyle, Community Development Director, reviewed his requested changes 
to the fee schedule.

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Rosa Garcia-Marquez, Court Administrator, reviewed the court’s requested 
changes to the fee schedule.  
 
 
 
Ken Lutkiewicz, Police Lieutenant, reviewed the police department request for 
changes.

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Steve Boyle, Community Development Director, also reviewed the recreation and 
rental requests for changes.

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Amy Brown, Town Clerk, reported that this item will come back to the Council at 
tonight’s regular meeting for the notice of intent to change the fee schedule. It will 
then be posted on the town website for 60-days and will come back to the 
Council on May 18th for the final approval. If all the changes are approved 
tonight, then at this point fees can only be reduced from the proposed amount, 
they can’t be increased. 
 
Councilmember Rubash asked for an example of who has storage on town 
property. Director Boyle stated that the Friends of Music have items in a closet at 
the Community Center.  
 
Town Manager Smith summarized that staff’s job is to provide a balanced budget 
to the Council. At the April 20th study session, the Town Manager’s balanced 
budget will be proposed and reviewed showing the Capital Improvement Projects 
(CIP) list and the recommended CIP projects for next year. The tentative budget 
is planned for the May 4th meeting and the final budget should be on the June 1st 
meeting.  
 
2. Presentation and Discussion Regarding Open Meeting Law, Conflict of Interest, 
Code of Ethics, and Election Laws 
 
This item was heard after the grant discussion, before the property tax and fee 
schedule discussion.  
 
Trish Stuhan, Town Attorney, reviewed the Code of Ethics. The purpose of the 
policy is to maintain the trust of the public by being open and transparent. This 
policy applies to the Town Council as well as all Boards, Committees, and 
Commissions. There are certain responsibilities including fairness, respect, 
attending the meetings, and abstaining from voting if there is a conflict of interest 
or personal interest. A legal conflict of interest is if there is a pecuniary interest 
and the member should refrain from any involvement in the item which usually 
means leaving the room. A personal interest is defined under section 3.4 as a 
bias with precludes them from making a fair and impartial decision. If a Public 
Official fails to vote on an item without declaring a conflict of interest or personal 
interest, the vote shall be entered in the minutes as an affirmative vote. 
 
Open Meeting Law means that discussions of four or more Councilmembers 
need to be held in the open and in the public. Council needs to be aware of 
having a serial meeting where you get up to four members in a discussion at 
different times. In addition, there can be no polling to see if you have enough

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votes. Town Manager Smith stated that staff doesn’t count in the quorum, so 
Council can meet with the Town Manager so that staff can find out what 
information the Council needs to hear on an agenda item to have their questions 
answered to make an informed decision.  
 
Town Attorney Stuhan continued that the goal of the Conflict-of-Interest law is to 
make sure that all Councilmembers are putting the town’s interest first and 
making a fair and impartial decision. Council can’t make decisions for personal 
gain or accept gifts with $50 being the threshold. There is information that is 
confidential that can only be disclosed by a majority vote of the Council. The 
Council does have a duty to report a violation which can then be reviewed and 
possibly investigated. A commission member may be removed by the Council. 
The Town Council may publicly censure a member of the Council but can’t 
remove them from office.  
 
She also reminded the Council that it is election season so no town resources 
can be used to influence an election. This means using town meetings or 
buildings to request people to vote for a candidate.   
 
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.) 
 
E. ADJOURNMENT  
 
MOVED BY Councilmember Margaret Nyberg to adjourn at approximately 5:00 PM 
SECONDED BY Councilmember Kristy Bedoian  
VOTE: 6 – 0 (Yes – Mayor Bratcher, Vice Mayor Jones, Councilmembers Bedoian, 
Clark, Nyberg, and Rubash) 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
ATTEST: 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
         BG Bratcher, Mayor 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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 study session of the Town Council of Wickenburg, Arizona held on March 16, 
2026. I further certify the meeting was duly called and held and that a quorum was 
present.  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Amy Brown, MMC 
Town Clerk