Gazing into the crystal ball at a five-year fiscal forecast for the Town of Fountain Hills, it does not look all that sunny nor particularly dire.

The outlook presented to the Town Council by Finance Director Craig Rudolphy at a retreat Jan. 29 is characterized by the same sluggish to slow growth seen over the past few years coming out of the Great Recession.

Rudolphy is projecting General Fund revenues to be at $15.3 million by fiscal year 2019-2020. That is an increase of about 12 percent over the current fiscal year.

However, the projections call for expenditures to reach $15.9 million over the next five years.

Rudolphy also reported that numbers for the first half of the current fiscal year have revenues falling behind expenditures.

He said revenues are about 9 percent behind projections while expenditures are 13 percent over projections.

However, this is not an unusual scenario for the first half of the fiscal year. Revenues for the third and fourth quarters generally reflect a catch up with holiday spending and winter visitors.

Town Manager Ken Buchanan said they expect to be able to manage through the temporary shortfall.

The core services provided by the town include public safety, which includes the court, law enforcement and fire and EMS protection; administration including the town manager and town clerk’s offices; town attorney; finance; volunteer service and economic development.

Community Services includes recreation, tourism, parks, the Community Center and senior services.

Development Services includes planning and zoning, building inspection, engineering, GIS and streets.

The budget planning assumes a 4.5 percent annual increase in law enforcement services from the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office. There is also a 3 percent annual increase in the town’s contract with Rural/Metro for fire and EMS.

Buchanan said he is recommending a two-year extension on the Rural/Metro agreement rather than a five-year contract at this time.

He said there is still potential fallout from the recent bankruptcy the company went through and he wants that farther along before considering the longer agreement.

The town is also looking at a separate agreement with Rural/Metro for EMS/transport services. The agreement being considered would put firefighters on ambulances and upgrade the units from ambulance to rescue status.

Fire Chief Randy Roberts said Fountain Hills is the only area of Rural/Metro service in the Northeast Valley still operating without rescue units.

Funding streets

Pavement management in street maintenance is still a high priority for the council, and this year the town will enter into a three-year program to replace asphalt with mill and overlay projects in Zone 1, which includes the town’s major collector streets.

Buchanan said the town should continue its policy of using its share of vehicle license tax and a portion of Highway User Revenue Funds (HURF) to maintain a $1 million annual asphalt maintenance program.

He also suggested the town consider other options for funding asphalt replacement.

One item might be a future Arterial/Major Collector Road Bond to fund asphalt replacement on major streets such as Palisades and Fountain Hills boulevards and other streets with asphalt that is 40 years or older and beyond useful maintenance efforts.

The town could also reprioritize CIP funds to assist a portion of annual funding for asphalt replacement.

A .2 percent in dedicated sales tax becomes available in the FY 2016/17 after the McDowell Mountain Preserve bonds are paid off. That could be rededicated to asphalt replacement, according to Buchanan.

The list of capital improvement projects being implemented or completed this fiscal year include the Saguaro Boulevard reconstruction, Fountain Park improvements, Ashbrook Wash drainage improvements, alley paving, Shea Boulevard improvements, Fountain Lake water quality improvement projects and Fire Station 2 relocation.