Council votes to fund cemetery, library, ramp and recycling baler

Sedona City Council’s two-day budget work session on April 22 and 23 saw council emerge with a proposed budget of $95,983,959 for Fiscal Year 2026-27.

The session also included council approving seven Community Service Provider contracts on April 23. The three-year agreements total $2.48 million in annual funding and $250,000 in one-time spending that the city enters with nonprofit organizations to fund community services. Council also reviewed decision packets, which are supplemental funding requests from city departments.

Community Library Sedona

The largest approved contract went to Community Library Sedona, which was unanimously approved for $1,058,963 annually with a one-time contribution of $150,000 for renovations of the main branch in West Sedona.

Both the Citizens Budget Work Group and City Manager Anette Spickard recommend approval.

Sedona Community Center

Council unanimously approved an annual contract of $342,925 with the Sedona Community Center, and a $75,000 one-time contribution that will be prioritized on constructing an Americans with Disabilities Act-compliant ramp. CBWG recommended $302,825 annually but was against the ramp and a request for mini-splits to help to cool the dining room.

Council had previously directed the Verde Valley Caregivers Coalition volunteer handymen to look into building an ADA-compliant ramp for SCC, however interim mayor Holli Ploog said that VVCC were unable to construct it because it falls outside of their typical projects that focus on accessibility for people’s private residences. The workers are not equipped for a commercial building with ADA requirements.

“There’s a real ADA issue there, that there’s a whole portion [of SCC] that cannot be accessed by a segment of our community that flies in the face of the intent of the disability laws,” Councilwoman Kathy Kinsella said. “That as an equity issue here about not allowing people something that other users have access to, I’m completely supportive. There’s also the emergency egress aspect of it.”

The ramp is the center’s biggest priority, which is what the $75,000 will go toward. Spickard said that weatherization of the dining room could come back before council in a future year, and that the city could help the SCC pursue grant funding and put together a full scope of its needs.

Humane Society of Sedona

The Humane Society of Sedona’s annual contract of $323,127 was approved unanimously with minimal discussion on the second day of the work session.

Sedona Recycles

Council unanimously approved Sedona Recycles’ $289,000 annual service provider contract, and a one-time $50,000 contribution to help offset its purchase of a new bailer was approved 6-1, with Vice Mayor Brian Fultz opposed.

CBWG recommended against the one-time contribution.

“I don’t see it as being fundamentally different than the library and its capital campaign,” Councilwoman Charlotte Hosseini said.

The $50,000 will be under the city manager’s purview to approve emergency equipment expenditures by Sedona Recycles over the next three years.

Sedona Heritage Museum

Council unanimously approved a $200,000 annual contract with the Sedona Heritage Museum. The CWBG also recommended approval but did not recommend approval of a $40,000 one-time contribution that council later approved.

The $40,000 will be split with $25,000 going to new fencing at Cook’s Cedar Glade Cemetery along with improvements to the entryways, and improving entrance on the east side for equipment vehicles to be able to enter since it is still an active cemetery. SHM Executive Director Nate Meyers said that the museum will be doing additional fundraising for the improvements on-top of the city monies with a total project cost estimate of $75,000 to $100,000.

“We do want that cemetery to be a point of pride in our community, considering our founders are buried there,” Ploog said.

The city will also construct a $15,000 new safety wall at the Jordan Historical Park. The wall will be built along the north side of the walkway on the north of the Jordan House and will run from just below the restroom building to the picnic spot near the Telegraph Office.

Hope House

Hope House of Sedona, which provides transitional housing for homeless families, had its inaugural contract with the city approved in the annual amount of $135,000, with no one-time requests. It sailed through with no questions on day two.

Verde Valley Caregivers Coalition

The Verde Valley Caregivers Coalition annual contract of $130,000 was quickly and unanimously approved.

Council is scheduled to vote on adopting its Tentative Budget that sets the maximum amount the city can spend on Tuesday, May 26, with adoption of the Final Budget on Tuesday, June 23.