May 6, 2022
Happy Mother’s Day!
I wish all of the mothers and grandmothers a day full of joy and a future that is as happy as the memories you treasure! 

And a special thank you and tribute to my own mother Glenda Pace who has been such an inspiration and mentor to women and provides unconditional love and support!
Newsletter: Budget Time at The Town
By Councilmembers Julie Pace & Ellen Andeen

The Town’s new CFO Lindsey Duncan and Town Manager Jill Keimach are leading the efforts to work with department heads and Town Council for us to review and approve a budget for Paradise Valley by June 9.

Inflation, increasing fuel costs, the labor shortage, and the need to have a high level of customer service and talented team members in our town means there will be an increase in the budget. 

In FYE 2021, our town revenue was approximately 38 million and expenses were approximately 36 million. The Town has 107 full-time employees, 6,113 residences, a population of 12,658 people and land area is 16.5 miles. 

From the fiscal year 2021 as compared to the fiscal year 2019, revenue increased by approximately $2.1 million or 6%, while expenses increased to $900,000 or 2.6%.

And our Town has at least $63 million in cash and investments as a rainy day fund.

Our Town has no primary property tax. We primarily receive revenues from the occupancy tax from our world-class resorts, sales tax, State-shared revenues such as HURF and federal and state grants, licenses and permit fees, and fines and forfeitures.

Our Town community development department is very busy with the high number of construction projects and permits occurring. They are working to continue to be responsive to both hillside and flatland projects. The department is proposing adding one employee to help with enforcement regarding the short-term rental regulations.

Building inspection efficiencies have significantly improved under Chuck Ransom’s leadership. Kudos to Chuck and his team as we are hearing great things in the community about responsiveness, competency, and timeliness on projects.

Public Works is a popular department in the Town as they do so much visible work through maintenance of medians, and roadways, maintaining desert ambiance, and giving a high level of customer service. 

The department has done an amazing job doing preventive work on Town roads to save money in the long run. Our Town is in the top 10% of properly maintained streets in the country. This is because of the investment that has occurred annually to take care of and maintain roads. Kudos to Brent Skoglund and Jerry Cooper and their team!

Our wonderful community-oriented Police Department has been working hard and they are proposing adding an Item in the budget to have a mental health expert available for those types of calls.

Also, they are preparing an increase of two officers to help cover the increasing needs of the short-term rental and party house situation and because they anticipate that the Ritz opening may increase traffic to 15,000 a day, which is 5 million vehicles a year. 

The police department is being proactive and planning ahead to be able to properly staff the current and anticipating needs of our community.
Cholla and Echo Canyon Trails and Parking Issues
By Councilmember Julie Pace

Our Town residents are subject to heavy traffic congestion, intrusion of vehicles waiting in neighborhood driveways, and clogging Town streets, while residents are also being yelled at by drivers who will not move vehicles and are parking where they block sidewalks and roadways in neighborhoods. This is all occurring in the PV areas that are near the very popular trails of Cholla and Echo Canyon trails on Camelback Mountain.

When Cholla trail opens back up, it is going to be a mess on Invergordon. There is no planned pull-out for drop-off and pick-up. Echo Canyon trail roundabout and surrounding neighborhoods are already experiencing increased issues this past year and it is getting worse.

Councilmember Andeen and I are leading efforts to address this important issue and appreciate Phoenix's openness to work together with our Town and its residents to discuss the issues and develop potential solutions.
Councilmember Ellen Andeen has been in communications with Phoenix Councilmember Sal DiCiccio to schedule a meeting with us and includes various stakeholders to address residents' and hikers' safety concerns about the lack of a pull-out location for drop off and pick up for hikers at the Cholla Trail on Camelback Mountain. He is very receptive to meet and address the issues.

We have worked on this issue before. I worked with residents a few years ago when Phoenix Councilmember Sal DiCiccio and former Councilwoman Maria Syms held a meeting regarding resident complaints to minimize traffic and intrusion into the residential neighborhoods on the streets around Cholla Trail. 

I have been working recently with neighbors at the Echo Canyon Trail and have asked Phoenix Councilmember Jim Waring, who has been very receptive to work with us in the past in helping with efforts to protect Camelback Mountain, to join the traffic congestion and solutions discussion meeting regarding the trails, along with members of the Phoenix Mountain Preserve Board and Phoenix Parks & Recreation, along with our Town Manager, Community Development Director and Chief of Police.

Stay tuned as we strive to find solutions that are safe, reasonable, and can minimize traffic congestion and clogging streets and roundabouts.  
PV Makes the Stop Pacaso Now Newsletter
Thanks again to Town residents (Christine Labelle and Kathy Clifford) and our luxury home realtors' involvement to stop Pacaso. Paradise Valley will continue to be under pressure from investors to commercialize our residential neighborhoods. We all need to work together to preserve Paradise Valley. It will take strong, proactive and strategic voices to protect our Town. Check out the Stop Pacaso newsletter of other great communities who stood up against Pacaso including Carmel, Santa Barbara, Sonoma and more.
Paradise Valley Updates
The Town Post Office has a new employee named Ashley so please welcome her.
The Town information technology department is working on redesigning the Town website. Stay tuned for a more user-friendly Website.
Public works has also reduced the amount of water used in our community by 14% based on the efforts they have put in place since 2017.
The goal of the Town staff and Council is to develop a software data portal that will allow everyone to see what is happening at a particular location, to check on construction approvals, etc I think this will be very helpful to residents, contractors, and realtors. This will take some time to be implemented, but at some point, it will be a reality. Kudos to Community Development Director Lisa Collins and CIO Katherine Fernandez for leading this effort.
The Town is also reviewing the capital improvement program for fiscal year 2023 budget. The Town Council learned about the proposal by staff of the overview for 2023 to 2027. The staff has specific criteria they use to rank projects to include them in the CIP budget.
PSPRS pension fund has been significantly paid down so our efforts as a Town Council to commit to paying it down for many years have allowed us to manage the unfunded liability efficiently and effectively.
Our finance department is top-notch and did receive the certificate of achievement in excellence in financial reporting, popular annual financial reporting a word, and distinguished budget presentation of work. Less than 200 cities and towns nationwide have received this Triple Crown of awards.
Paradise Valley Town Councilmember Julie Pace proactively engages to preserve the mountains and open space and focuses on substance, action, and doing good work for the best interests of the Town, while building a sense of community.
Julie Pace for Paradise Valley Mayor | 5501 E Solano Drive
Paradise Valley AZ 85253 | paceforpv@gmail.com
Paid for by Julie Pace for Paradise Valley Mayor.
Authorized by Julie Pace.