The Camp Verde Town Council adopted the town’s final budget for fiscal year 2025-26 at the special meeting on Wednesday, July 2.
Fiscal year 2026 runs from July 1, 2025 to June 30, 2026.
Finance Director Mike Showers gave a brief presentation on highlights from the final budget. The town aims to maintain a balanced budget operationally every year, when recurring operational expenditures are covered with current year revenues instead of reserves.
In the FY 26 budget, the town has maintained a balanced budget in all four operating funds: The General Fund, the Highway User Revenue Fund, the Wastewater Fund and the Water Fund.
The total budgeted expenses for FY26 are just under $64.3 million, with an estimated $59.3 million of revenue, which is 14% higher than the FY 25 revenue. The expenditure limitation is set at $29,544,150.
The largest portion of the town’s revenues comes from grants and donations at $33.2 million, local sales tax revenues at nearly $8.85 million and state-shared revenues at nearly $6.9 million. These three components make up 82% of the town’s total revenues.
The state-shared revenue from state income tax drops nearly $180,000 for FY 26, a 7% drop in revenue for the town.
The majority of local sales tax revenue comes from retail, but local sales tax revenue has grown across all tax categories despite a general slowdown statewide.
The General Fund is the main operating fund used to account all financial resources not reported in other funds. The General Fund is where the majority of the town’s services are budgeted and expenses for FY 26 are $14 million, a 1.5% decrease from the FY 25 budget.
Town staff wages and related expenses make up 78% of the total General Fund expenditures. Wages, taxes and benefits only grew 2.3% from the FY 25 budget at around $240,000, despite a 6% increase in health care costs.
Major increases in the General Fund expenses are for the Camp Verde Marshal’s Office, at a $250,000 increase and the Parks and Recreation Department, which increased by $69,000.
The CVMO had the most significant cuts last year, but now have the most significant gains this year.
The town employs 138 full-time and part-time positions, as well as seasonal workers. No new staffing positions are proposed for the second year in a row.
Out of the town’s total expenses for FY 26, 64%, or $40.9 million, is for capital expenditures, which are termed as expenses over $5,000 that have a useful life of more than one year. These span public works, water and wastewater projects.
Significant expenditures include $2.87 million for Phase One completion of the Camp Verde Sports Complex, $2 million for arsenic removal systems at two wells and approximately $900,000 to repair erosion issues at Dickison Circle.
To date, the town has spent over $14.1 million on the 110-acre sports complex, including the initial land purchase in 2007. Once all phases have been completed, the park is expected to have six baseball fields, two all-purpose fields, pickleball courts, a walking trail, a fishing pond and disc golf course.
The budget includes $800,000 for remodeling the Camp Verde Heritage Pool. In fall 2024, the town closed the pool early due to infrastructure issues. This larger project to address the long-term life of the pool is expected to start after this summer.
Special revenue funds are restricted for specific purposes, such as the Highway User Revenue Fund, which can only be used for street-related projects. There are nine different special funds, including non-federal grants, federal grants, housing and HURF.
There are seven separate federal grants amounting to $23.9 million for things like road improvements and the sports complex. There is a proposed $150,000 for affordable housing funds.
The three projects in the federal grants fund, totaling $22 million, are for Montezuma Castle Highway road improvements, Montezuma Castle Highway curb, gutter and sidewalk improvements and a realignment of the north end of Main Street.
The town received a $926,000 AZ SMART grant for the design and planning work on the Finnie Flat Road and State Route 260 corridor.
No members of the public spoke at the public hearing. The final budget was adopted unanimously.
