San Manuel Miner
More money problems have been discovered at the Town of Mammoth.
On Thursday, May 7, Mammoth Mayor Don Jones hosted a Town Hall meeting at the Community Center to get input from Mammoth residents on how the town can save money.
The Town of Mammoth is in serious financial difficulty, Jones said. The amount of HURF (Highway User Revenue Fund administered by the Arizona Department of Transportation) funds borrowed has grown to $1.2 million and the debt could continue to mount when the next audits are completed. The state Auditor General is scheduled to meet with the mayor concerning the HURF funds.
In addition to the HURF funds, Jones reported, it has been discovered that the Town’s liability insurance has not been paid for two years, so a deal had to be negotiated with the insurance company, which was on the verge of canceling their insurance, resulting in having to make higher payments.
Withholding taxes weren’t paid and outstanding bills had not been paid for six months, Jones added.
The Town of Mammoth has taken action to reduce spending, Jones told the residents. The monthly payroll has been reduced from $57,000 a month to $26,000. The Mayor and Town Council members have also been talking with other small town mayors and are looking at getting a bill introduced in the legislature that would give small towns a larger percentage of Arizona shared revenue from lottery sales. The state has made cuts in funding for municipalities and has cut smaller town funding more than the larger cities. Many small town governments are hurting and view this as an emergency situation.
Supervisor Pete Rios, who was in attendance, will present the idea of the bill to the Board of Supervisors at the May 27 Board meeting. It is hoped that the Board of Supervisors will support the idea which will be presented to Frank Pratt, District 8 Representative, to introduce to the state legislature.
The Pinal County Sheriff’s Office was represented at the meeting by Deputy Chief Harry Grizzle. Chief Grizzle spoke to the audience about the cost of having PCSO take over the policing of Mammoth. He explained that the cost would be $280,000 per year – $70,000 per officer and it would take four officers to patrol Mammoth. The current Mammoth Police Department budget is $270,000 per year. Chief Grizzle says it will be cheaper in the long run for the Town of Mammoth to use Pinal County deputies. They would save on things like insurance, comp time and other unseen costs. The Pinal County Sheriff’s Office will be on the agenda for the next Mammoth Town Council meeting.