The Fountain Hills Town Council has set aside money each year earmarked for a liner replacement for Fountain Lake, which is likely to still be several years out. However, in a long-range financial planning session Nov. 12, the discussion turned to whether the town can spend the money it has saved for the project.
Town Accountant Michael Stelpstra walked the council through a discussion related to Arizona’s constitutional spending limitation and how it might impact future budget decisions. The town’s original base limit was approximately $3.3 million calculated using a per capital amount of other Maricopa County municipalities base limits. The town’s base limit was adjusted to $4.1 million in 2003, the first fiscal year that included fire service in the town’s budget.
The calculations are adjusted based on an inflation factor related to change in the GDP Implicit Price Deflator and changes in population based on estimates by the Arizona Office of Economic Opportunity.
