At the March 17 Council meeting, staff will be seeking City Council approval of a Resolution proposing a permanent adjustment of $4.0 million to the 1979 -1980 base expenditure limitation of the City of Flagstaff be submitted to the voters at the August 4, 2020 Election.

The expenditure limitation limits the amount a City/Town can spend in a fiscal year.  An increase in the expenditure limitation does not increase the City revenues but provides the City with the authorization to spend the revenues that are collected as promised.  Due to increases in both operating budget and pay-as-you-go capital budget related to increases in local tax and other revenue increases since 2006, the City needs to permanently increase its base expenditure limitation to avoid invoking future penalties or limit current spending on revenues already authorized by the voters or Council.
 
It is recommended that:

• The City is requesting an additional $4.0 million adjustment to the 1979 - 1980 base expenditure limitation as related to increases in local tax and other revenue increases since 2006. This base adjustment would subsequently increase the expenditure limitation of $30 million to a total estimated $205 million for FY 2021-2022.
• Ask the Flagstaff voters whether or not they wish to approve a permanent base adjustment to our expenditure limitation, for consideration at the August 4, 2020 election. 

Please find the attached detailed analysis and presentation for the need for a permanent base adjustment to the City expenditure limitation.