Discussion and possible action on any and all matters regarding Resolution No. 2318.  A resolution of the Mayor and City Council of the City of San Luis, Arizona, initiating procedures for an Alternative Expenditure Limitation (also known as the Home Rule Option) by adopting a notice of public hearings, establishing a deadline for submission of pro and con statements for the November 5, 2024, General Election ballot; and declaring an emergency.  (Sonia Cornelio, City Clerk)

(6 votes in favor are required in order to pass immediately as an emergency measure per A.R.S. § 19-142)

This item is brought back from the May 22, 2024, Agenda for reconsideration.

Explanation of Alternative Expenditure Limitation (also known as Home Rule Option)

The Arizona Constitution, Article IX § 20, limits the dollar amount of a city's local revenue that it is allowed to spend.

However, the Arizona Constitution allows cities to adopt an Alternative Expenditure Limitation, commonly referred to as the Home Rule Option, that is free from any ties to the State-imposed limitation (Article IX, Section 20, subsection 9, Arizona State Constitution). Home Rule is adopted if the following procedure is met:
(1) two (2) public hearings are held,
(2) the City Council considers the input from the public hearings and decides by 6 votes in favor to go forward with submitting the question to the voters,
(3) the majority of the qualified electors of the city vote in favor of the Alternative Expenditure Limitation issue, which may be at a regular city election or the Arizona general election.

If the alternative limitation is defeated by a majority of the qualified electors voting in the election, the city will be subject to the State-imposed expenditure limitation. No new Alternative Expenditure Limitation may be submitted to the voters for at least two (2) consecutive fiscal years (Article IX, Section 20, subsection 9, Arizona State Constitution).

If the Alternative Expenditure Limitation is approved by a majority of the qualified electors voting at the election, it will be in effect for the four succeeding fiscal years. In the fourth year, the voters may be asked to extend the Alternative Expenditure Limitation for four more years. This process must occur every four years to retain the Alternative Expenditure Limitation.

What Resolution No. 2318 Does

Resolution No. 2318 does two (2) things.
(1) It approves the attached form of notice of public hearings, which are set for July 3, 2024, at 6:00 p.m. and July 10, 2024; and
(2) it sets the deadline for statements pro and con for the November 5, 2024, ballot to be submitted to the City Clerk no later than August 7, 2024.

Emergency Passage of Resolution No. 2318 

The dates of the two public hearings (which will be July 3 and 10) and the deadline for pro and con statements must be published by June 21 for two (2) consecutive weeks. A.R.S. § 19-142(B) and San Luis City Code § 2.05.520 require that resolutions are not operative until 30 days after passage by the City Council. There are not thirty (30) days between this Council Meeting, June 12, and June 21, the latest date for the first publication, so we need to pass the resolution as an emergency, so the effective date will be sooner than the thirty-day (30-day) effective date of resolutions under Arizona Statutes and the City Code. These laws do allow for the sooner passage of measures necessary due to an emergency.

The May 22, 2024, Council Meeting

At the May 22, 2024, Council Meeting, Resolution No. 2309 proposed the same action, to start the process for Home Rule. However, the item did not pass as an emergency, and the proposed dates for publication of the notice would not work.
Staff reviewed the legal deadlines and determined that there is still time to publish since the pro and con statements are not legally due until 90 days (under A.R.S. § 19-141(C)) before the November 5, 2024, election, which is August 7, 2024.