OV Council to place Local Alternative Expenditure Limitation on ballot
Published on April 19, 2018
At its April 18, 2018 meeting, Oro Valley Town Council approved a resolution to propose an extension of the Alternative Expenditure Limitation, or "Home Rule" Option. The question will be placed on the August 28, 2018 Primary Election ballot for voter approval. For historical context, Oro Valley voters have approved the Home Rule Option every four years since the law was implemented in 1980.
What is the Local Alternative Expenditure Limitation, or "Home Rule" Option?
The State of Arizona Constitution imposes a formula-based budget spending limit on Arizona cities and towns, including the Town of Oro Valley. This formula-based spending limit does not take into consideration the services and programs provided to citizens by each city or town, such as public safety, water and roadway infrastructure. As an alternative to this formula-based limit, the State Constitution allows voters of a municipality to approve a Local Alternative Expenditure Limitation, otherwise known as the "Home Rule" Option. The Home Rule Option allows a city or town to adopt its own budget limits based on local needs, service levels and available resources.
It is important to note that the Home Rule Option is not an increase or decrease in tax rates. Funding estimates are based on existing income sources that the Town already receives. These income sources would continue to be received by the Town under the state-imposed budget limit, but could not be spent in the full delivery of services to the community.
A "YES" vote on Home Rule would allow Oro Valley to continue to set its own budget spending limits locally via the budget adoption process. The local funding estimate for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2019 is $132.7 million.
A "NO" vote would limit the Town expenditures to the state-imposed formula limit, resulting in a 70% reduction in Town services, beginning in fiscal year 2019/20. Budgeted expenditures would be limited to no more than $40.1 million, which translates to a severe reduction in services such as police, parks and recreation, streets and roads maintenance, transit services, development services, and water utility services.
Voter information
The primary election will be held August 28, 2018. Voters may request an early mail ballot for a specific election or they may request to be placed on the Permanent Early Voting List and receive mail ballots for all elections. The early mail ballots for the Primary Election will be mailed on or about August 1, 2018 and on or about October 10, 2018 for the General Election. Publicity Pamphlets (voter information guides) will be mailed out July 16, 2018.
Find Out More
Visit www.orovalleyaz.gov and click on "What is Home Rule?" in the rotating carousel menu. If you would like a representative of the Town of Oro Valley to speak to your group or organization about the Home Rule Option, or if you have additional questions, please contact Oro Valley Constituent Services Coordinator Jessica Hynd at 520-229-4711 or jhynd@orovalleyaz.gov.