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Estate planning PAGE 7
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This Week
NEWS............................. 2 Students honored by their various universities and colleges
ARTS....................................9
Artist Laurie Canfield keeps her career fresh by evolving
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Two Brothers Kitchen is overwhelmed by support
OPINION................................ 6 ARTS........................................ 9
FEATURES.......................... 10 DINING................................. 13
CLASSIFIEDS..................... 14
Wednesday, July 15, 2020
Cave Creek mayoral election has familiar look
BY ALEX CONFORTI Foothills Focus Staff Writer
T
he Cave Creek primary election will mirror the 2018 election with incumbent Mayor Ernie Bunch running against former Councilwoman Eileen Wright. Ballots were mailed June 27 to voters who requested one. Election day is Tuesday, August 4. A councilman since 2005, Bunch would start his third term if elected this year. Bunch has spent 44 years with his family’s B Bunch Company Inc., working on design, research and development, sales, machining and service. Bunch said he’s been valuable to the town. “Cave Creek was in terrible fi-
If elected, Ernie Bunch would be starting his third term as mayor. (Photo cour-
tesy the town of Cave Creek)
nancial shape when the recession hit, as the only sales tax revenue we had was in the Town Core,” Bunch said about the area from Cave Creek Town Hall to the municipality’s eastern boundary. “As businesses came along that were beneficial, we changed the zoning.” “First was Tractor Supply then AutoZone. Then we ended up with Firehouse Subs, Burger King, and now Chipotle, Sprouts, Dutch Bros all in that area. All of these businesses have helped to make Cave Creek more financially secure.” According to Bunch, and the annual CFA report for Cave Creek, this growth allowed for a balance of over $20 million in the bank at the end of the last fiscal year; $13 million of it was unallocated. He said long-term planning has allowed for the Abrazo Micro Hospital, adding
see ELECTION page 3
Home rule option on the ballot this August BY CHRISTINA FUOCO-KARASINSKI Foothills Focus Executive Editor
DINING....................... 13
PAGE 10
P
roposition 433 will be on the August 9 ballot for Cave Creek voters to decide whether or not to adopt an alternative expenditure limitation (home rule option). This is an alternative to having the state-imposed expenditure limitation for the town’s budget over the next four years. To put it simply, Cave Creek, like all cities and towns in Arizona, is required to have a balanced budget where spending cannot exceed available revenues. In 1980, Arizona voters approved a constitutional amendment designed to limit
the annual expenditures of all Arizona cities and towns. The law requires that each municipality adopt a limit on its annual expenditures based on a formula that is set by the state. This is known as the state-imposed expenditure limitation. The expenditure limitation is adopted each year in conjunction with the adoption of the budget, which includes public notice and public hearings as required by law. Expenditures cannot exceed the revenue, thereby creating a balanced budget. This option is effective for four years. The town of Cave Creek incorporated in 1986, however the state limitation is based on actual payments of local revenues for fis-
cal year 1980, before the town was incorporated and before it provided many services to the residents. Cave Creek’s limit is based upon the average amount of actual fiscal year 1980 per capita payments of local revenues made to all cities and towns within Maricopa County. The limitation is adjusted each year based on population increases and inflation. The state-imposed expenditure limitation is $11.6 million. The state expenditure limitation is not calculated based on the revenue received by the town. The upcoming fiscal year budget reve-
see BALLOT page 4