The Town Council is asking staff to prepare a plan to establish a reserve fund for major maintenance and repairs to town facilities.

However, the challenge is going to be finding the money to do that.

The council met last week in a retreat session to discuss planning and budgeting for next fiscal year.

Town Hall is the newest facility owned by the town and it is nearly 10 years old. Last summer there was an air conditioning issue that needed to be addressed.

When asked how staff currently funds major repairs to facilities, Town Manager Ken Buchanan said “we rob Peter to pay Paul.”

“This is really something we need to pay attention to,” Councilman Cecil Yates said. “We should get a (dedicated) fund established.”

Council asked staff to prepare an updated capital needs evaluation as well as consider a revenue source.

“We need to get started with this budget using whatever we can afford to get started,” Yates said.

Mayor Linda Kavanagh suggested a maintenance plan similar to the pavement management plan that was established last year.

Councilman Tait Elkie asked about funding for replacing pavement on minor neighborhood streets. Right now the pavement plan calls for some mill and overlay projects on arterial streets, but for smaller streets funding only for routine maintenance is available.

The $1 million a year dedicated to street maintenance will not cover asphalt replacement.

A bond proposal soundly rejected by voters in 2011 did provide money for broader asphalt replacement.

“It is time for us to get real about where we are going to get money to sustain this community,” Councilman Dennis Brown said.

He was suggesting the council might need to consider new revenue to keep up with infrastructure repair and replacement.

“We need to stop soft-peddling this,” Brown said. “I’d rather be defeated (in an election) and say I tried, than not try at all.”

Kavanagh said she could not support asking citizens for new tax money.

“If (government) keeps adding on (taxes) people can’t afford it,” Kavanagh said.

Brown countered, “We need to consider the value of our town. We can’t continue to pay increases in public safety (contracts) without the money coming from somewhere else.”

“We are making inroads in economic development,” Kavanagh said. “We are making strides in finding other ways to enhance revenue.”

Elkie asked, “Do we need to leave this and have some future council address this in an improved economic climate?”

Councilman Henry Leger said there is no need to be suggesting new taxes or other revenue at this point. He said staff was creative in funding the pavement management plan.

“I’d like to have staff come back with new ideas,” Leger said. “We need to recognize that economic development is not a silver bullet.

“We are fooling ourselves if we think economic development and tourism are going to have a significant impact on our revenue.”

Leger suggested that even the most optimistic projection would be no more than $1 million a year.

Kavanagh said the town should look at going to voters with bond requests as the major street work, such as Saguaro Boulevard, is complete and paid for.

“I’m not saying this is the most efficient way to do this, but it is how the people have told us they want it done,” Kavanagh said.

Elkie asked staff just what is the town’s ability and authority to impact economic development.

“How do we get people to move to our town?” Elkie said.

“The biggest part of economic development is quality of life,” Buchanan said. “Fountain Hills has that.”

He noted that the town is lacking in adequate facilities for attracting some major business.

“We are asking GPEC (Greater Phoenix Economic Council) to have someone dedicated to deal with smaller towns and cities,” Kavanagh said. “They would direct those looking for smaller space to those communities.

“We will be working to make sure they follow through in directing efforts to smaller businesses.”