The Town of Tusayan is still reviewing the numbers but the Town Council concedes it will have to severely limit spending and stay within Arizona spending limits.

Faulty paperwork filed by the Town negated a November Home Rule option election that normally allows a Town to exceed state spending limits. The Town had hoped for a work-around by holding an election to exceed budget limits. That measure was defeated in May by two votes. The amount of the spending limit is still being debated . A spokesman for the Arizona department of Revenue says the limit is $1,414,517.

At a June 12^th Town Council meeting members discussed the budget process and Mayor Craig Sanderson pledged to follow the will of the voters but he noted that spending limits and Tusayan’s budget may not be the same thing.

Mayor Sanderson said, “We want to do our best to make sure we are within voters’ wishes as it relates to the non-passage of the home rule. What’s not clear is exactly what dollars that means because there’s a difference between the constitution and the statute.”

The process of building a budget is now underway even as the numbers remain unclear.

The Mayor added, “The penalty and the requirement is not how we set the budget. It’s the expenditures. That was what was passed by the voters is the expenditure limitation. So we could budget a $20 million budget and that would be legal, but if we spend more than what is allowed that’s what’s not legal.”

The Mayor said priority will be given to public safety. Vice Mayor Brady Harris says his priorities for the remaining funds are public safety, education, and services for children. Councilman Robb Baldosky agreed. Councilmembers Rebecca Wirth and Al Montoya did not attend the council meeting.