The Fountain Hills Civic and Cultural Association hosted its public forum for Town Council candidates on Aug. 2, addressing a range of questions that focused on the fiscal stability of the town.

In considering a projected budget shortfall of more than $5 million within five years, Mike Archambault said the council needs to look at an array of potential solutions and not focus on any one thing.

Archambault noted a public safety district could provide funding for police and emergency services without tapping the town’s General Fund. Such a district would be a separate entity from the town, operating with a separate tax base. However, implementation would likely require help from the State Legislature and support of voters.

Archambault suggested reviewing fees for services, proposing quality of life bond programs or a primary property tax.

“I believe you put everything on the table and don’t take anything off the table until the problem is solved,” Archambault said.

Councilman Dennis Brown said the town is starting to recover from the eight-year recession and the construction industry is improving.

“The projects we are approving will bring jobs to town, more people and be a huge help in bringing us out of the financial woes,” Brown said.

Tim Rawlings noted that he is a proponent of the free market and the town should privatize any and all services that it can.

Art Tolis said proposed apartment developments in the works will increase revenue from rental sales tax, and the additional population will bring more revenue to town.

“There are a lot of positive things coming into town,” Tolis said. “We don’t need to be looking at a property tax. I think we will be in better shape than the projections.”

Councilman Cecil Yates said his answer to everything is economic development.

He said the town is leaking almost $300 million a year in sales, clarifying that it would still be $200 million if you take out auto sales.

Yates said the town needs to expand its permanent population, its daytime population and regional population.

“If we add another 10,000 people we could add another four to five million dollars in revenue,” Yates said.

In talking about potential new businesses for the proposed Park Place development, Yates said he feels it will be a very nice retail draw, believing things like restaurants or a brew pub would be successful.

“This past year was the first year ever that restaurant sales were greater than grocery sales,” Yates said. “That creates an opportunity. Park Place is a huge step in the right direction.”

Tolis said the town needs to identify specific businesses that are needed for the new development.

“I believe in mom and pop business,” Tolis said. “We need to support those we have and look at what we need to avoid duplication.”

Brown spoke to the potential for downtown commercial versus vacancy rates.

“The majority of the downtown commercial is occupied,” Brown said. “The vacancies are not in the downtown. I believe this new space will be exactly what we need to be doing.”

Archambault said the Park Place project is just part of an overall economic development puzzle.

He said to bring families and daytime population into town, the focus should be on professional services, technical and medical/bioscience and wellness businesses.

“This is the kind of business we want to bring good jobs and families to town,” Archambault said.

The candidates also talked about infrastructure maintenance and replacement.

Rawlings said the street bond was successful for a project the size of the Saguaro Boulevard reconstruction. However, he said he believes ongoing maintenance bonds may not be the best way to go and said the town should seek out additional revenues for maintenance.

Brown said it is simply a case where if you don’t have the revenue you are not going to be able to take care of maintenance.

“The bond worked well for Saguaro,” Brown said. “We have another 127 lane miles we need to take care of.

“I feel we have the finest parks in the state and staff is running lean, but doing a great job.”

Tolis said updating Saguaro was a great move and said the town needs to put funds into updating and maintaining Fountain Park as an attraction for tourists.

“Tourism dollars will help drive revenue,” Tolis said.

Yates once again went to economic development as the answer. He said development will spur permanent population to spend money and bring revenue.

He added that the town can look at bonds, grants and specialty districts as sources also.

The five candidates are vying for three seats on the council. The primary election is Tuesday, Aug. 30. Anyone who receives 50 percent of the vote will be elected outright. Any seats not filled will be on the November ballot as a runoff.

Residents unable to attend the forum last week can review the discussion at the FHCCA website fhcultural-civic.org.