Plans $19.3M, lowers mill rate following approval

As the Verde Valley Fire District enters its final year before its merge with Copper Canyon Fire & Medical Authority in July 2027, the VVFD governing board voted to approve its $19.3 million tentative budget at its May 26 meeting.

The budget’s public hearing and final approval are scheduled for the board’s next regular meeting on Tuesday, June 23, at Station 31, 2700 E. Godard Road in Cottonwood.

The district, which covers Cornville, Page Springs, Clarkdale, areas surrounding Cottonwood and along State Route 260 to about halfway from Cottonwood to Camp Verde, budgeted $9,446,842 in property tax revenue for Fiscal Year 2026-27; $8,561,345 of that is general fund property taxes, which is up from the previous year’s budgeted $8,147,073 and actual $7,993,418.

The remaining $885,497 budgeted for next fiscal year comes from extra taxes from the $15.5 million General Obligations Bond approved in November.

VVFD Administrative Manager Lisa Elliot told the board on April 28, the first time the full tentative budget was presented to the board, that the district would be lowering the property tax mill rate by $0.01 to $3.30 as a “thank you.” A mill rate or levy is the amount taxed per every $1,000 of assessed value.

Other large revenues include $1,022,000 in ambulance revenues, $976,892 in grants and $450,784 in intergovernmental revenues. Listed in the budget under “other income” is $164,500 and listed under “other financing sources” is $1,018,137.

Additional financing sources are made up of mainly carryover funds from dollars not spent in the previous year.

Expenses

Capital expenses, largely funded by the GO Bond, are up to $7,745,777, with $5 million of that going toward the new station’s construction and $400,000 to property acquisition.

The fiscal year 2026 budget was originally $2,190,276, but spent only $1,108,163 due to lower radio infrastructure, administrative vehicle maintenance and building maintenance and construction. Other large expenses significantly larger than the previous year’s budget is engine maintenance, which has a proposed budget of $1,092,584 and was not in last year’s budget at all, and $1,000,000 for radio infrastructure improvements, which was $200,000 last year.

The second largest expense is personnel, which is up to $7,371,901 from last year’s $6,699,437 original budget.

Ending personnel expenses were down from originally planned at $6,178,364.

Johnson “noted that starting firefighter pay is approximately $8,000 to $9,000 lower than Sedona, a key competitor, and that medic pay would increase from $2.25 to $3,” according to the April 16 meeting minutes, when the board first discussed personnel costs. He stated that “overtime and backfill costs have increased due to staffing needs and comp time provisions, with employees accruing comp time at time and a half for overtime. These increases are reflected in personnel costs along with associated increases in benefits such as Social Security and workers’ compensation due to wage growth.”