Homeless in Arizona

Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton and Mesa Mayor Scott Smith are a gun grabbers???

The Second Amendment was create to allow the PEOPLE to violently overthrow the government should the government become tyrannical. And of course any tyrannical government is going to use a background check as a way of keeping their enemies from having guns.

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2 Valley mayors agree on need for better background checks

By Erin Kelly Republic Washington Bureau Thu Jan 17, 2013 11:27 PM

WASHINGTON -- If Congress wants to find consensus on reducing gun violence, universal background checks on everyone who wants to buy a firearm may be the best place to start, the mayors of Phoenix and Mesa said Thursday.

Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton, a Democrat, and Mesa Mayor Scott Smith, a Republican, disagree on many of President Barack Obama’s proposed gun-control measures but agree on the need for better background checks to keep guns from criminals and the mentally ill.

The two addressed the issue while attending the annual winter meeting of the U.S. Conference of Mayors here.

Stanton supports the president’s wide-ranging approach, which includes a ban on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines. Smith says he believes such bans infringe on Americans’ Second Amendment rights.

But both support the idea of ensuring that everyone who buys a gun should undergo a background check. Currently, those checks aren’t done on buyers who purchase firearms at gun shows and other private sales. The president’s plan, unveiled Tuesday, would change that.

Smith said he wants more details about how the background checks would work, but supports the general idea.

“There is wide support among gun owners — of which I am one — to make sure guns don’t end up in the hands of the wrong people,” said Smith, who is vice president of the mayors’ group. “I think most everyone can agree that convicted criminals and people with serious mental illness should not have guns.”

David Keene, president of the National Rifle Association said Thursday on “CBS This Morning” that the organization is “generally supportive” of strong background checks.

Stanton said passing legislation to require universal background checks is the least that Congress can do in the wake of last month’s mass shooting at an elementary school in Newtown, Conn.

“I think America is saying it’s time to take reasonable measures to reduce gun violence,” Stanton said. “If we can deal with the issue of background checks, that’s part of a good consensus approach.”

While the issue of gun violence dominated the news coverage of the first day of the mayors’ three-day meeting, Stanton and Smith said the federal fiscal crisis still tops their list of concerns.

When Congress reached a last-minute deal on New Year’s Day to stop middle-class tax increases from taking effect, lawmakers postponed for two months a decision on what to do about $1.2 trillion in automatic, across-the-board cuts in federal spending on defense and domestic programs.

Arizona stands to lose 50,000 jobs if Congress does not stop the cuts from taking effect on March 1, Stanton said.

“It’s not acceptable that we’re still facing this looming threat,” he said. “We understand that some federal budget cuts are coming, but this is too much. This would throw us back into recession.”

Smith agreed, calling the automatic cuts “a dumb idea.” He said he is especially concerned that some lawmakers are talking about eliminating the tax-exempt status of municipal bonds.

“Those bonds are our lifeblood for financing our local projects,” Smith said.

With gun violence and fiscal issues dominating Washington, Stanton also said he fears that comprehensive immigration reform will once again be pushed aside by Congress.

“Congress should be able to multi-task and address gun violence and immigration at the same time,” Stanton said.

Mayor Scott Smith can't balance the budget of Mesa, Arizona

Mesa forecasts budget shortfall of $8M to $9M next year

Posted: Friday, February 22, 2013 5:40 pm

By Michelle Reese, Tribune

The City of Mesa forecasts it will have an $8 million to $9 million shortfall in the next fiscal budget, which starts July 1.

Candace Cannistraro, Mesa’s management and budget director, gave the financial prediction to city leaders Thursday morning during an annual strategic planning meeting.

Cannistraro said the slow economic recovery is to blame. While the city has made cuts during the recession, it relied on funds it put in reserve to help fill a gap the past few years. In fact, no budget shortfalls were forecast for the current-year budget. Mesa’s general fund this year is about $308.5 million, Cannistraro said.

But reserves the city relied are getting low, and as scheduled, not much will be available for the 2013-14 budget, she said.

The city knew during the past few budget seasons how much it had to use in reserves, but the hope was by now that revenues would start increasing. And while general fund revenues have increased, it isn’t enough.

“The recession is over, but the recovery is taking a lot longer,” Cannistraro told the city council, Mayor Scott Smith and city employees. “Economists just keep pushing it out.”

Total revenue funds for Mesa in 2013-14 are expected to be in line with the amount of funds the city generated in 2005-06, Cannistraro said.

Showing where the city needs additional funds, Cannistraro presented a picture of how much benefit and pension costs have increased for city, police and fire personnel since 2005-06. Since then, costs have risen 40 percent to 115 percent per employee, she said.

Even though the city has far fewer full-time employee positions – 487 fewer to be exact – expenses are rising.

The city is also facing future expenses with operations and maintenance of new parks and facilities that will be built using bond funds approved by voters in November, Cannistraro said.

Cannistraro said the last few times Mesa has had to make cuts, it’s asked each of its city departments to plan budgets with across-the-board reductions

This year, Cannistraro said city staff will work with each department independently to determine where savings can be found.

The city is also going to look at system wide expenses – such as its employee benefit trust fund – to see if changes can be made in when some payments are made. City manager Chris Brady said there may be an opportunity to alter payments to the trust because right now it is, “healthy.”

Brady also told the council that the city’s utilities, “are looking pretty good,” and he didn’t expect a rate increase for next fiscal year. If that holds, it would mark the second year in a row that rates have remained the same.

The council should adopt a tentative budget on June 3, with a final budget adoption on June 17.

Contact writer: (480) 898-6549 or mreese@evtrib.com

Free government housing in Mesa, Arizona????

All this is is elected officials buying votes by giving out money to poor people which they stole from other people.

And of course this is done in Mesa Mayor Scott Smith's city. Mesa Mayor Scott Smith has had articles written about him saying he is going to help Washington solve it financial crisis.

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Mesa opens public comment period for housing authority plan

Posted: Tuesday, February 26, 2013 1:45 pm | Updated: 2:58 pm, Tue Feb 26, 2013.

Provided by City of Mesa

A 45-day public comment period is underway for the City of Mesa Housing Authority’s proposed annual plan for the next fiscal year, which begins July 1. The purpose of the plan is to outline goals, objectives and methodology the Housing Authority will use to provide assisted and affordable housing through the use of federal funds in Mesa.

The proposed annual plan is available for review by the general public and can be found the City of Mesa Housing Authority, 20 E. Main St., Suite 250 or online at mesaaz.gov/housing/reports.

Public comments can be submitted in writing to the above address above, faxed to the City of Mesa Housing Authority at (480) 644-2923 or e-mailed to housing.info@mesaaz.gov. The public comment period will conclude at the end of business April 11.

Mesa Mayor Scott Smith shovels corporate welfare to rich baseball teams???

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Oakland A’s, Mesa negotiate final deal on stadium

By Gary Nelson The Republic | azcentral.com Thu Feb 28, 2013 10:44 PM

Mesa has reached a final agreement for the Oakland Athletics to return their spring training operations to the city beginning in 2015.

The deal is expected to receive approval Monday from the City Council, which was briefed during Thursday’s study session.

That meeting brought another piece of baseball news to Mesa: The Arizona Sports and Tourism Authority this week approved an $8.2 million allocation for renovating Hohokam Stadium to accommodate the A’s.

Oakland trained in Mesa for 10 years beginning in 1969 before moving to Scottsdale and then to Phoenix.

Hohokam and Fitch Park, a few blocks south of the stadium, currently serve the Chicago Cubs who will move next year to a new stadium near Loops 101 and 202.

Mesa built the current stadium for the Cubs 16 years ago, spending $28 million in the process.

But by 2009, the Cubs were considering other spring training options. Florida business interests promised to build the team a stadium in Naples, Fla., with enough land for a “Wrigleyville” retail and entertainment complex that would generate new revenue.

Mesa kept the Cubs by promising to spend $84 million on new baseball facilities and $15 million on related infrastructure in the Riverview neighborhood. City voters approved the project in 2010.

Solving the Cubs problem, however, only created another for Mesa: What to do with Hohokam and Fitch?

Apart from the multimillion-dollar investment in the facilities, Mesa estimated it would cost almost $1.5 million a year to maintain them as city parks. With lease payments from the A’s, that expense will be cut roughly in half.

Oakland was nearing the end of its lease for Phoenix Municipal Stadium and initiated talks with Mesa in late 2011.

“We had a very outstanding agreement with Phoenix and in a sense have a hard time leaving, but we’re still looking forward to the future,” said Ted Polakowski, a Mesa resident who directs Oakland’s Arizona operations.

Oakland’s tenure at the nearly 50-year-old Phoenix Muni ends in 2014, and the stadium is likely to be the next home for Arizona State University’s baseball team.

Mesa has a year to renovate Hohokam and Fitch.

There will be clubhouse upgrades to accommodate nutritional and language training. Seating at Hohokam will be reduced to make the park more intimate for the A’s, who typically draw fewer fans than the Cubs. And there will new fan amenities; among the possibilities is a bar dug into Hohokam’s outfield berm.

The total bill is pegged at about $20 million.

Mesa will cover the first $15 million. The next $5 million will be split evenly between the city and the team. Oakland picks up all costs beyond $20 million.

That means public spending for the A’s is capped at $17.5 million.

Combined with the Cubs project, Mesa has now committed to spending as much as $116.5 million on spring training facilities within the next couple of years. It plans to issue bonds for the projects this spring.

The $8.2 million from the Arizona Sports and Tourism Authority — which City Manager Chris Brady thinks will arrive in Mesa’s coffers between 2016 and 2020 — will help. But Mesa believes it can handle the costs in any event.

“We’re not relying upon some expected economic development activity to pay for these bonds,” Brady said Thursday.

That contrasts most notably with Glendale, which built a $158 million park for the Los Angeles Dodgers and Chicago White Sox in the so-far unfulfilled hope that nearby development would generate income to cover stadium costs.

Mesa has two financial aces in the hole:

An economic development fund that the city padded when it saved $72 million last year in a bond-refinancing deal. Brady said the fund is flush enough to cover $4.5 million a year in ballpark debt service for at least the next decade.

11,000-plus acres of Pinal County farmland that Mesa bought for its water rights in the 1980s. The city no longer needs the water.

After the Legislature balked at helping Mesa pay for the Cubs stadium in 2010, the city pledged the proceeds from future Pinal land sales toward stadium costs.

Farm Sources International, a global agricultural company whose North American headquarters are in Scottsdale, is conducting due diligence on the entire 11,000 acres in a deal that could net Mesa $135 million in lease and purchase payments over six years.

Brady thinks the sale could close less than a year from now.

The money would be used to begin early payoff of the baseball bonds and to replenish the economic development fund, which the city aims to continue using for capital projects such as facilities for five liberal-arts colleges moving into Mesa.

The Oakland deal would give Mesa a double-barreled Cactus League presence until at least the middle of the century.

Mesa Mayor Scott Smith doesn't want you to have a cesspool

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Mesa wants septic systems replaced

By Gary Nelson The Republic | azcentral.com Fri Mar 1, 2013 11:14 PM

A little drama that played out early this week in City Council chambers could foreshadow dozens more like it as Mesa does away with aging septic systems in coming decades.

Fred Cook, who lives on county land north of University Drive and east of Ellsworth Road, asked a council committee to overturn Mesa’s requirement that he hook into an existing sewer line in front of his house.

His request was denied, even though the sewer connection will cost thousands of dollars more than the septic-system repair for which he sought permission.

“To do that would be totally against our plans for the future,” said Councilwoman Dina Higgins, who chairs the three-member sustainability and transportation committee.

Those plans, as outlined Monday by water resources director Kathryn Sorensen, include a decades-long program to eliminate septic systems from every neighborhood in Mesa’s planning area, regardless of whether it has been annexed into the city.

State law gives Mesa that authority.

A year after first briefing the committee about the overall sewer-conversion plan, Sorensen returned with a more detailed look at the program and its costs.

The speed with which sewer lines are extended into a given neighborhood will depend on a scoring system considering environmental factors, the age of the homes to be served and costs.

Based on those factors, a small neighborhood northwest of Southern Avenue and Greenfield Road ranks highest on the priority list, although the timing of specific projects may change as a result of neighborhood feedback.

By far, the majority of the affected neighborhoods are in county areas east of Sossaman Road. Across the city and unincorporated areas, some 24,000 lots eventually will be affected.

The total cost to run sewer lines into all the areas will top $94 million, and Sorensen said the first projects will be included in the capital-improvements project for the coming fiscal year.

As septic systems fail in areas with the new sewer lines, Mesa will require homeowners to connect to the city system.

That’s the situation in which Cook found himself when his septic system began to fail last year only 13 years after his house was built. He sought permission to add a second seepage pit, which would cost about $3,500.

But Mesa told him to hook into a sewer line that was installed about four years ago next to his property on north 98th Street. Mesa estimated the bill at $9,400, of which $2,659 would be paid as a wastewater development impact fee.

Cook objected in particular to the impact fee. “I don’t quite understand the purpose of that fee since we would be paying for all the connections ... and paying a monthly bill,” he told the committee.

Sorensen explained that every additional user of the sewer system increases the burden on the treatment plans in which Mesa must invest hundreds of millions of dollars. Impact fees help offset those costs.

Mesa’s share of the next upgrade of the Greenfield Water Reclamation Plant in Gilbert, she said, will cost $67 million.

Development and Sustainability director Christine Zielonka said if Mesa waived impact fees in this or any other case, the city would be required by law to reimburse the affected fund with money collected from other city taxpayers.

“I’m not looking for other taxpayers to pay the fees that I should be paying,” Cook said. “My concern is whether the impact fee is a legitimate fee for this particular situation.”

Cook also questioned the rationale for requiring sewer hookups to begin with. “Because we have some nebulous thought that we are harming the groundwater somewhere, each homeowner has to pay 300 percent more” than the cost of fixing a septic system, he said.

“If we were to do something different for you right now, we would be inconsistent with the things we have done in the last few years,” Higgins replied.

Staffers did promise to work with Cook on the costs of his hookup, promising to cap the bill for material and labor at $5,400. The impact fee will still be required.

Mesa Mayor Scott Smith a tax and spend socialist???

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Mesa City Council, state lawmakers at odds

By Gary Nelson The Republic | azcentral.com Tue Mar 12, 2013 8:03 AM

It’s springtime in Mesa, and the only thing more predictable than the weeds is the City Council’s annual reaction to what’s going on in the Legislature.

The angst is particularly acute this year as Mesa and other Arizona cities battle a sales-tax reform bill that could hammer Mesa’s finances by as much as $10 million a year.

But that wasn’t the only thing that gave the council heartburn last week as the city’s governmental relations liaisons delivered a briefing on legislative action to date.

During the discussion Councilman Scott Somers said in a Tweet: “Listening to presentation on AZ Legislative session. No matter how cynical I get of the @AZLegislature, it’s never enough to keep up.”

Scott Butler, the city’s government-relations director, said Mesa is monitoring 190 of the more than 1,100 bills that lawmakers introduced this year.

There’s always the possibility, Butler said, that some bill affecting Mesa could be introduced later as part of the Legislature’s “strike-all” tactic, which allows lawmakers to gut a bill and insert new language totally unrelated to the intent of the original proposal. Even without that, he said, Mesa has enough on its hands, the sales-tax bill being particularly worrisome.

Butler said cities agree with the concept of making life simpler for businesses that have to remit sales taxes to multiple jurisdictions. But the bill includes a massive tax break for developers that would wipe out the requirement to pay sales tax on completed construction.

That, combined with provisions that would eliminate local authority over collections and audits, would probably cost Mesa $10million that annually helps support public safety and other services.

“The emphasis at the state level ... really evolved with almost total disregard for what happens in the cities,” Mayor Scott Smith said. It’s highly unlikely, he said, that the state would bother to audit businesses that operate only within one city, leaving the door open to widespread cheating.

After the council meeting, Smith told The Republic he has been warning lawmakers that the bill not only will sock Arizona cities, but has the potential to clobber the state treasury.

Butler said progress is being made in efforts to modify the bill’s impact, but there are no guarantees.

Butler and government relations coordinator Miranda DeWitt listed several other bills, which then ticked off the City Council:

Senate Bill 1321 would forbid cities from imposing energy codes on new construction and assert state control over efforts to develop affordable housing.

SB 1231 would dictate what cities can include in contracts with architects for the design of public buildings.

House Bill 2347 would prevent cities from evening out the property-tax payments for bonds over a period of years, subjecting property owners to fluctuating payments from year to year.

Butler said the bill is being pushed in the name of governmental transparency, but Smith said, “I thought telling people what they were going to pay over the next 10 years was fairly transparent, because then they get an idea of the real costs.”

HB 2544 would prevent cities from assessing real-estate parcels for particular services. Butler said that could affect Mesa’s ability to levy fees for, say, water service. “This (sponsor) is Justin Olson, who represents Mesa,” Smith said. “This is our representative who is pushing something that would damage our city.”

HB 2554 would prohibit cities from banning guns in public buildings unless they supply lockers and personnel enabling people to store their guns while they are inside.

Butler and DeWitt said the bill could create enormous complications for sports and entertainment venues. Further, it includes no funding to help cities comply.

Bills depriving cities of control over their own quality of life and finances, Butler said, are part of “a troubling trend that we continue to see from our friends at the Legislature.”

Mesa Mayor Scott Smith wants more tax revenue???

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Mesa Mayor not pleased with sales tax bill, says it endangers local, state revenue opportunities

Posted: Tuesday, March 26, 2013 2:22 pm

By Daniel Quigley, Tribune

One of the state’s current legislative issues that’s clearly piqued the attention of Mesa Mayor Scott Smith is House Bill 2111, which affects the manner in which cities collect sales taxes.

He called adjustments the bill proposes to the collection of construction sales tax “troublesome,” at his monthly media briefing Tuesday in his office at Mesa City Plaza.

“If the assumptions that were used in formulating the proposed law don’t play out, it could create significant revenue losses at both the state and the city level,” said Smith. “Our contention is simply that with so much disagreement over whether these variables and the assumptions that were made are correct, this is a subject that warrants more study.”

Smith stopped short of writing off the potential for common ground, calling many of disagreements on data “reasonable.”

Smith suggested a committee be formed to bring into the process municipal leaders to help the state examine the true effects of the proposal.

“We want to know exactly how much of a construction project is in materials and how much is in labor,” Smith said, adding: “We want to know the consequences, the real consequences … if we shift from a collection of construction sales tax at the revenue level — in other words when you finish a house, when you finish a project — to the point of purchase of materials, which is what has been proposed.”

Smith said the measure could lead to huge tax breaks for a select number of businesses, costing the state government about $140 million, alone on top of potential losses in the million for individual cities. He also said the irreversible nature of such tax breaks is another reason for caution.

“If you go down that road … un-ringing the bell — undoing that is nearly impossible,” Smith said.

Smith said he does not foresee agreement coming quickly enough for the measure to be a good risk for cities.

Other elements to the bill that Smith said he and other mayors around the state are working on are what Smith called the single-license, single-pay and single-audit elements of the bill.

Currently, companies that do business across municipalities often have to get sales tax licensing from, pay taxes to and receive audits by each municipality.

Smith said language in the bill essentially eliminates city auditing departments and puts tax collections solely in the hands of the state.

Smith said cities are better equipped to calculate their own sales taxes, adding that most of Mesa’s 25,000 sales-tax license holders do business in Mesa exclusively.

But he said the simplifications are necessary and negotiations are close to fruition.

“Single license, single audit, single pay — we believe we’re very close on all those,” Smith said.

Contact writer: (480) 898-5647 or dquigley@evtrib.com.

Mesa shovels out the corporate welfare for the Marriott Hotel

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1st hotel set for Chicago Cubs complex in Mesa

Wrigleyville West project is questioned

By Gary Nelson The Republic | azcentral.com Sun Mar 31, 2013 8:59 PM

Only the shell of a new stadium is poking out of the ground, but the Chicago Cubs’ new complex in northwest Mesa already has landed its first major commercial development.

Mesa-based Sunridge Properties Inc. has agreed to build a 100-room Marriott SpringHill Suites hotel on the edge of a city park that will serve as the eastern gateway to the $99 million baseball complex.

Although Vice Mayor Alex Finter hailed the development as “great news,” City Council members questioned several aspects of the project during a study session last week.

Marriott’s SpringHill brand features limited-service properties without restaurants or expansive conference space. The hotels offer free breakfasts and larger-than-normal rooms divided into small suites.

“Is this too small for what we’re looking for in the area?” Councilwoman Dina Higgins asked. “Is it really the quality of hotel that we’re going to need?”

Scot Rigby, the Mesa economic-development officer who is handling the deal, said the hospitality market is still soft and the Riverview site, although strategically located, is unproven.

If SpringHill does well there, he said, more elaborate hotels may follow with the Marriott or some other brand.

Sunridge CEO Paul Welker said the firm’s research indicates the market can support a SpringHill Suites but not something fancier. He said the hotel will likely be popular with sports teams looking for roomy accommodations and a free breakfast. The site’s proximity to Boeing Co.’s Mesa plant and Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport gives the property potential for year-round success, Welker said.

Welker also promised that the hotel’s architecture and decor would mesh with the stadium and the overall baseball theme of the complex.

Councilman Dennis Kavanaugh wondered why Mesa is imposing a six-month moratorium on other Wrigleyville West hotel developments after the SpringHill opens in early 2015.

The only company that would be allowed to open another hotel there during that time would be Sunridge itself, which focuses on the Marriott portfolio and owns 30 properties in Utah, Arizona and New Mexico.

“What happens if you get a great inquiry from a Hilton?” Kavanaugh asked.

City Manager Chris Brady said the city is talking to other hotel companies, but it’s unlikely they could move quickly enough to open within that six-month window. The moratorium is in effect, Brady said, to allow the SpringHill time to get established before another hotel moves in next door.

Rigby told The Arizona Republic the most likely time frame for another hotel to open there would be early 2016, in time for that year’s Cactus League season.

Higgins also questioned the $250,000 that Mesa is charging Sunridge for the 2-acre site.

The city’s original agreement with the Cubs for development of commercial sites in the complex specified a price of $9 per square foot.

At that rate, the site would be worth $784,000. But Rigby told The Republic that Mesa is offering the lower price because it’s important for the first commercial project in Wrigleyville to be successful. [Yea, the bribes, oops I mean campaign contributions the Mesa City Council members had absolutely nothing to do with it, honest! At least they like to think we are dumb enough to believe that. ]

“The first entity in there, whether it was restaurants or whatever, we knew that entity was going to have an initial risk,” Rigby said. “The purchase price takes that into consideration.”

If the hotel succeeds, Rigby said, other businesses would be more likely to join the Wrigleyville West lineup. The hotel deal represents a major departure in the development strategy to which the Cubs and Mesa originally agreed for the commercial portions of the complex.

When the Cubs considered moving to Florida for spring training in 2009, it was largely because business interests there offered the team enough land to develop a retail and entertainment district that would feed the Cubs’ bottom line. The Cubs’ Mesa home at Hohokam Stadium — where they played their last game on Thursday — has no room for that.

And although Mesa is paying for baseball facilities at the Riverview site, it was always expected that the Cubs would buy and develop under their own auspices the approximately 15 acres that lie between the stadium and Riverview Park.

Rigby said the agreement between the Cubs and Mesa will be formally amended by May to reflect a new strategy.

Hotel companies have been more prone to approach the city than the Cubs, Rigby said.

The Cubs, however, will still buy and develop land for restaurants and retail operations. The hope is those operations will have a strong Chicago flavor. Rigby said representatives of several Chicago-area firms have toured the site.

“People can kind of picture where things are going,” he said.

National pulpit may shape Mesa mayor's future

National pulpit may shape Mesa mayor's future

By Gary Nelson The Republic | azcentral.com Tue Apr 2, 2013 7:36 AM

Scott Smith has about nine months to figure out whether he wants to stay on as Mesa’s mayor or plunge into what could be a boisterous race for Arizona governor in 2014.

That’s the timetable he laid out last week during his regular media briefing in his seventh-floor office at Mesa City Plaza.

When asked directly whether he will run for governor, Smith said, “I don’t know yet.”

But it was clear he plans to spend the year dealing not only with a plethora of budget and development issues, but boosting his already considerable national profile.

His ascension in June to the presidency of the U.S. Conference of Mayors will make him the nation’s foremost spokesman on urban issues as he weighs whether to join a probably crowded Republican field in next year’s gubernatorial race.

“I am focused first and foremost on being the mayor of Mesa and also my upcoming term as president of the United States Conference of Mayors,” Smith said.

During the past couple of years, Smith has made numerous national media appearances as he worked his way up the ranks of the mayors’ organization.

He was in the spotlight again this month, joining the group’s other leaders in Washington, D.C., to fight a White House proposal that would remove the tax-free status of municipal bonds.

That proposal, Smith said, will make municipal debt far more costly to finance. Citizens either won’t get as much new infrastructure, or they’ll have to pay higher fees and taxes to cover the costs of new schools, roads and water systems.

Without being asked about it, Smith also used this week’s news briefing to stake out a nuanced position on immigration.

It’s obviously a national issue, a priority of U.S. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., who said this week that he doesn’t know when he and allies in the Senate will be able to roll out a comprehensive reform package.

But Smith said he and other mayors will beat the drums this year to emphasize the local consequences of not fixing the immigration system.

Too much time is spent fretting about the costs of illegal immigration, Smith said. The other side of the problem is that restrictive laws are limiting how many smart people are allowed to stay and work in the United States.

“What we hear from business leaders is they are not able to attract enough high-quality Americans with the training, the education to really expand their businesses,” Smith said. “That’s what it’s all about — our economic future.”

He added, “There is no telling what the damage has already been by not having the ability to attract this pool of labor.”

Smith said he and other mayors hope to “report some real progress” on the topic this year.

The mayor ticked off numerous local issues that he will be monitoring this year as well: light-rail construction, work on Mesa’s two spring-training complexes, the impending completion of major projects such as the Fiesta police station and the first mile of Arizona 24.

And, he said he will pay close attention to a city budget that remains iffy even though various economic signs are trending upward. Sales-tax growth is mushy and Mesa is facing sharply higher costs for such things as fuel and public-worker pensions.

When asked whether Mesa might follow the lead of Phoenix and pass a non-discrimination ordinance that includes sexual orientation, he was cautious.

“I’ll never say never,” he said, noting that normal procedure is to have such a proposal vetted by Mesa’s Human Relations Advisory Board.

Mayor Scott Smith wants more drunks in Mesa???

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Bar-less hotel idea next to stadium catches flak from Mesa council

By Gary Nelson The Republic | azcentral.com Thu Apr 18, 2013 4:00 PM

A hotel next to the new Chicago Cubs stadium is on hold until the full City Council can decide whether it’s willing to accept one without a bar.

The lack of drinking and dining amenities in the proposed Marriott Springhill Suites appeared to be the main stumbling block Monday as the council, with only four members on hand, hashed out the project.

Mesa-based Sunridge Properties Inc. announced last month its intent to open the first property in the “Wrigleyville” commercial area between the stadium and Riverview Park.

But at the time, some council members wondered why Sunridge was proposing a limited-service facility.

The reason, Scott McAllister told them Monday, is money.

McAllister, a vice president for lodging development for Marriott, came from Bethesda, Md., to explain his company’s rationale.

He said Marriott has developed more than 4,000 hotels worldwide over 80 years and does extensive research before deciding which of its 18 brands will be built in any particular location.

In fact, he said, Marriott has previously looked at, and rejected, other sites in Mesa.

But Wrigleyville is a great spot for a Springhill Suites, he said, because the brand offers free breakfasts and large suites that can accommodate families visiting for sports events.

“Wrigleyville is a game-changer,” he said. “We all want the same thing. We all want to make the most amount of money at the end of the day. And Springhill Suites is that brand.”

But, he said, only about 10 percent of Marriott’s 300-plus Springhill Suites properties have bars, and those properties typically are “in the middle of nowhere.”

It doesn’t make economic sense, he said, to put a bar in the Wrigleyville property when guests can walk to next-door restaurants.

No announcements have been made regarding the Chicago-style restaurants that Mesa and the Cubs hope to attract, but Mayor Scott Smith said Monday that Marriott’s announcement has spurred recent interest from restaurant companies.

Councilman Dennis Kavanaugh pressed McAllister and Sunridge CEO Paul Welker on the issue, saying some limited-service hotels do have bars. “I don’t think it’s a foreign concept to have a bar as part of the amenities package when the hotel opens here,” he said.

McAllister rebuffed Kavanaugh’s arguments. “This is an economic decision,” he said. “It does not make economic sense to put a bar in, and that’s our position.”

Welker said his company operates a Springhill Suites next to Chase Field in downtown Phoenix and that hotel does not have a bar. If there is future demand for a bar in the Mesa hotel, he said, one can be added.

When the council was first briefed on the project in March, some members requested above-average architecture to match the expected ambience of what will be Mesa’s premier tourist destination.

Welker said Monday that has been addressed with an urban-flavored design that features lots of brick, stone and steelwork. The enhanced design, he said, will add considerably to the normal cost of a 100-room hotel.

“I appreciate the improvement in design,” Kavanaugh said. “It is really coming along very well.”

Smith and Vice Mayor Alex Finter seemed generally favorable to the Marriott proposal Monday, and Councilman Dave Richins said he is not interested in micromanaging the business decisions of companies that will invest in Wrigleyville.

According to a proposed memorandum of understanding with Sunridge, Mesa will sell the hotel site for $250,000. The council was scheduled to vote on the agreement Monday, but Smith delayed the vote because council members Dina Higgins, Scott Somers and Chris Glover were absent for the study-session discussion.

The hotel deal also represents a change in the approach to developing Wrigleyville: Mesa has now agreed to take the lead on hotel projects, and the Cubs will oversee other development.

Mesa city council lobbies for more drunks in Mesa???

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Mesa city council debates whether to include bar at Riverview-area Marriott hotel

Posted: Saturday, April 20, 2013 7:59 am

By Daniel Quigley, Tribune

With only a partial City Council on hand, Mesa Mayor Scott Smith ultimately pulled an agenda item on a proposed Marriott Springhill Suites Hotel — slated for the “Wrigleyville” area between the news Cubs’ baseball stadium and park at Riverview — from the council’s meeting during its study session Monday night.

But a discussion still took place on the merits of the proposed facilily, to be developed owned and operated by Mesa-based Sunridge Properties Inc. Sunridge also owns a dozen or more Marriott-branded hotels, according to Marriott Vice President Scott McAllister.

The most discussed issue: whether the hotel should have a bar.

“What does it look like opening a hotel in a sports and entertainment district that is dry?” said Councilman Dennis Kavanaugh, observing that the hotel will be the only venue in the Wrigleyville area when its doors open; restaurants, bars and shops will eventually spring up around the anchor facility.

Kavanaugh said other council members have the same concern, although none others who were present expressed it.

Councilwoman Dina Higgins and Councilman Scott Somers were not in attendance, leading to Smith’s request that the item be moved to the next council meeting.

“I think this is too important of an issue to take up when we don’t have a full council, considering that there are disagreements on the council,” Smith said.

McAllister was still able to explain Sunridge’s logic to the council present, however.

“It does not make economic sense to put a bar in and that’s our position,” he said.

He added that one of the reasons Sunridge and Marriott chose the area was because the hotel could depend on the outside providers to take care of guest’s dining, drinking and shopping needs.

“Wrigleyville is a gamechanger,” McAllister said. “Wrigleyville is a great location with great amenities.”

McAllister said Marriott had considered the location of the current Hyatt Place, located as part of the Mesa Riverview shopping complex across Dobson Road, but he said Marriott had “concerns” that barred the project.

McAllister said of more than 300 Springhill Suites, fewer than 10 percent of them have bars. He said most that do are in locations without outside providers nearby.

Sunridge CEO Paul Welker added that changes can be made without revisions to the layout of the building if it turns out guests demand more services like a bar or dining.

Kavanaugh appeared not to be convinced that the hotel shouldn’t at least offer some sort of limited bar service.

“Mom and pop may want to have a beer or glass of wine (and) don’t want to leave the hotel or you could have business travelers, who’ve traveled all day, again, and who don’t want to leave the hotel,” he said.

Councilman Dave Richins said he prefers to leave the decision up to Sunridge and Marriott and does not want to “micromanage what someone does inside their business.”

Smith agreed.

The council seemed to universally favor the design the hotel group presented in a rendering. The design includes upgrades that do not usually accompany the Springhill Suites brand. The upgrades, suggested by the city to adhere to its vision of the Wrigleyville project, included multi-level roofs with extra steelwork and balconies, plus an “L”-shaped layout that isn’t typical of the brand.

“It’s out of the norm,” Welker said. “There’s significant cost involved in doing this over and above (a standard Springhill Suites) but we feel like Wrigleyville is a good project and we want to be able to take advantage of that with the right product ... and the extra cost is something that we’re going to absorb.”

“I appreciate the improvement in design — it has really moved along very well,” Kavanaugh said.

Added Vice Mayor Alex Finter: “I’m still really excited in what this means for that area.”

The Marriott umbrella is comprised of 4,000 hotels worldwide, under 18 brands — other examples include Residence Inn and Courtyard.

Smith is convinced Marriott is the correct fit for the Riverview area.

“Marriott is the brand that I personally want to see in that area,” Smith said. “It is by far the superior brand for that location.”

Contact writer: (480) 898-5647 or dquigley@evtrib.com.

$100 million Mesa corporate welfare program for the Chicago Cubs

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Mesa to weigh sports-district hotels

By Gary Nelson The Republic | azcentral.com Sun May 5, 2013 9:42 PM

First, some Mesa City Council members sparred with a hotel company over its refusal to offer alcohol in the heart of a sports entertainment district.

Now, with a Mesa-based developer jumping in with a proposal to build a full-service, 150-room resort with a water park, the race to build the first hotel in Mesa’s Wrigleyville West complex has taken another twist.

The City Council is scheduled to make its first formal decision on the hotel proposals Monday night.

The stakes are high, not just for the hotel companies, but for Mesa and the Chicago Cubs.

The city is spending more than $100 million for the Cubs on a Cactus League baseball stadium, training facilities and a vastly improved Riverview Park at Dobson Road and Loop 202. For Mesa, it’s about creating a signature gateway and laying the groundwork for further economic development.

The Cubs asked for a new complex not just because their existing Mesa facilities needed an upgrade, but because a new site would give them a chance to make money from associated business ventures. Cubs owner Tom Ricketts has said the new ballpark may help his perpetually losing team break a 105-year championship drought.

The hotel companies see the Wrigleyville West commercial complex as a potential moneymaker, but their visions are vastly different:

Sunridge Properties Inc. of Mesa was first out of the gate with a proposal to build a 100-room Marriott SpringHill Suites along the “paseo” leading from the park to the stadium. A memorandum of understanding, paving the way for a formal agreement with Mesa, is on Monday night’s council agenda.

Bob Yost, doing business as Power Hotels LLC, sent Mesa an offer last week to buy 10 acres northeast of the stadium for a full-service resort with poolside food and beverage service and a water park.

Sunridge and Marriott did not receive red-carpet treatment from the council when they rolled out their plans in April.

There was early concern over the design, after which Sunridge added exterior flourishes costing an additional $1 million, giving the hotel an “urban” feel that Mesa believes is the best fit for Wrigleyville West. But the biggest point of contention was liquor.

SpringHill Suites typically are limited-service hotels without bars and restaurants, although they do offer free hot breakfasts. Scott McAllister, a development executive for Marriott, told the council on April 15 that a hotel bar makes no economic sense in a development where the Cubs are actively courting other bars and restaurants.

But Councilman Dennis Kavanaugh, pointing out that the SpringHill would be the only business in Wrigleyville West for a while, told McAllister: “I don’t think it’s a foreign concept to have a bar as part of the amenities package when the hotel opens here.”

The hotel’s only concession on that point, however, has been an agreement to sell beer and wine in its lobby market. Councilwoman Dina Higgins, meanwhile, called Marc Pierce, a real-estate broker representing Yost, in hopes that Yost might be interested in developing a full-service hotel at Wrigleyville West.

Yost opened what is believed to be the first hotel in Gilbert history, the Best Western Legacy Inn & Suites, in 2009.

A year later, he opened the $21 million DoubleTree by Hilton Phoenix-Gilbert in the SanTan Village retail development. It was the first hotel in Gilbert to offer ballroom and large-scale conference space. Pierce sent Mesa City Manager Chris Brady a letter of intent last week offering to buy 10 acres near the new ballpark for about $1.1 million.

Pierce told The Arizona Republic that Yost believes a resort is the “highest and best use” for land now occupied by softball fields.

“The area needs a full-service hotel,” Pierce said, adding that Yost wants to be first out of the ground at Wrigleyville West.

The situation is complicated by a provision in Mesa’s proposed agreement with Sunridge that if the SpringHill Suites is built, Sunridge has a six-month window to start the next Wrigleyville West hotel, precluding other companies during that period.

Marc Garcia, president of Visit Mesa, the city’s tourism bureau, said SpringHill is a good fit for the site, especially because it carries the prestigious Marriott brand.

“I think it would be a great property for that area,” Garcia said.

Garcia declined to comment on Yost’s proposal, saying he hasn’t had a chance to evaluate it.

Gary Levine, general manager of the Hilton Phoenix East/Mesa, at U.S. 60 and Alma School Road in Mesa, also said SpringHill would work at the Cubs complex.

But the national market for resorts remains shaky, Levine said, because post-recession room rates have not recovered to the point where hoteliers want to make that kind of investment. “There’s no supply being built. The demand really isn’t there,” Levine said.

Yost’s water-park proposal evokes memories of Waveyard, a Scottsdale company that in 2007 won city approval to turn the entire Riverview complex, except for Riverview Park itself, into a giant, sports-themed resort.

The company never got financing, and, in 2010, Mesa agreed to convert Riverview Golf Course into the Cubs complex that is scheduled to open early next year.

Pensions - A government welfare program for cops and firemen???

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Southeast Valley cities paying millions more to fund pensions

By Beth Duckett and Craig Harris The Republic | azcentral.com Tue May 7, 2013 11:10 AM

The price tag for Southeast Valley cities’ contributions to the pensions of police officers and firefighters has more than quadrupled as taxpayers have been forced to prop up the retirement system in the past decade.

Mesa and other cities are paying millions of dollars more to bankroll the retirements of employees in the Public Safety Personnel Retirement System, which has been damaged by crushing investment losses, guaranteed cost-of-living increases and fewer employees paying into the system, according to interviews and records obtained by The Arizona Republic.

Those pension contributions are a big part of the escalating costs that have made it harder for Southeast Valley cities to balance budgets as revenues plummeted in the Great Recession. To make ends meet, cities have resorted to cutting public services, raising taxes, and scaling back or not hiring as many employees — including police officers and firefighters. [Duh, that should be obvious!!! In most city budgets the police account for 40 percent of the employees, and firemen account for the next 20 percent of the employees, with all other employees accounting for the remaining 40 percent of city employees. So cops and firemen account for around 60 percent of most cities budgets.]

Despite legislative efforts to reform the system, taxpayers have been on the hook to pump additional money into the retirement system, which is underfunded by $4.27 billion.

“It is very much a part of our budget discussions and we are very concerned about it,” Mesa Mayor Scott Smith said. “The reason we’re concerned is we’re having to pay greater costs to maintain staffing levels, and these are costs we have no control over.” [Yea, but you do have control over the number of cops you hire!!!]

Cities predict increasing pension costs every year based on past trends and projections, with no definitive end in sight.

“There is no doubt we’re going to have to look to see how we can create a pension plan that is sustainable and therefore will be there for all of our officers,” Smith said.

Public-safety representatives note that police officers and firefighters also contribute toward their pensions, and are not at fault for the market losses that played a major role in the decline of PSPRS.

“We view ourselves as victims,” said Levi Bolton, executive director of the Arizona Police Association, which represents nearly 13,000 public-safety officers statewide. [Yea, the police unions will say anything to justify higher wages. They always claim to be under paid along with being down and out to justify more money!]

The Arizona Legislature tried to change PSPRS by requiring public-safety officers to pay slightly more for their pensions and to temporarily stop cost-of-living increases for retirees in July 2012. As a result, a group of current and retired police officers sued the state, saying they want the cost-of-living increases restored and they shouldn’t have to pay more.

Legislators who have supported pension reform say there is little political resolve to make more changes until those lawsuits are resolved.

Public employees with pension plans “are in so much better shape than the taxpayers funding those plans,” said state Rep. John Kavanagh, R-Fountain Hills.

Kavanagh put forward a measure this session that he called an attempt to stabilize the state pension systems. It would ask voters to amend the Arizona Constitution, which protects public pensions by saying they cannot be diminished.

“It will either be the end of this session or next session when we’ll consider putting the constitutional amendment on the ballot for voters to approve,” Kavanagh said.

Cities’ costs spiral

Meanwhile, the costs for cities paying into the system continue to rise significantly.

Records obtained by The Republic show that, from fiscal 2003 to 2012, the PSPRS contributions paid by 12 major Valley cities, not including Phoenix, increased an average of 350 percent, often by millions of dollars.

In Mesa, Chandler, Gilbert and Tempe, the collective contributions made toward public-safety pensions totaled approximately $37 million in 2011-12, up from roughly $8 million in 2002-03.

Mesa saw the highest increase: $13.4 million.

“Most of the time we get the bill for these costs late in the city budget process, so at times it is a case of sticker shock,” Mesa Councilman Dennis Kavanaugh said. [Well, if you are getting sticker shock, you are probably not doing your job as a city councilman and planning for the city's future.]

Cities and taxpayers weren’t always on the hook to prop up the public-pension system.

Kavanaugh, who served on the City Council previously from 1996 to 2004, said cities were “rarely faced with increased charges such as we have seen in recent years.”

Before 2002, “as long as the fund balance was doing well, the employers didn’t have to contribute to the system,” said Bryan Jeffries, executive vice president of the Professional Fire Fighters of Arizona and a Mesa fire captain.

After the collapse of the dot-com bubble in 2000 and 2001, PSPRS fund investments, which were heavily concentrated in technology and telecommunications, took a hit and the trust funding fell below 100 percent, meaning the value of assets no longer met the pension cost calculated for all current and future retirees.

The current funded ratio is about 59 percent, the second worst of Arizona’s public-pension systems, meaning it has enough money to pay for only 59 percent of its current and future liabilities.

Meanwhile, the number of retirees continues to grow every year.

On average, cities and other government agencies are paying higher contribution rates than public-safety employees, who have experienced no losses because their pensions are guaranteed.

Statewide, the average annual pension benefit is $49,480, according to PSPRS.

‘DROP’ adds fiscal pressure

In addition, records show hundreds of local police and fire employees have received lump-sum payouts in excess of $100,000 from the Deferred Retirement Option Plan.

To encourage veteran police officers and firefighters to stay on the job longer, public-safety employees can work an extra five years before retiring as part of DROP.

Upon entering DROP, employees no longer accrue credits for their years of service. At the end of the five years, participants typically receive a six-figure lump sum when they finally begin collecting their pensions.

Officers who work longer than 20 years but don’t take part in DROP can accrue more credits for their longer years of service. Their monthly pension benefits may exceed the one-time DROP payout over time.

In Arizona, the average DROP payment in Arizona is $238,048.

Six public-safety retirees in Mesa, Chandler and Tempe each received DROP payments in excess of $500,000, in addition to annual pensions greater than $80,000, according to PSPRS records. The average DROP payment in Mesa was $251,024.

Approximately 10,000 individuals, including surviving spouses and children of deceased officers, receive PSPRS benefits. A majority do not contribute into the federal Social Security retirement system. [Wow really is a welfare program, not only do the cops get the loot, but it also goes to their spouses and children!!!!!!]

Each city and town within the system is responsible for the pension liabilities of its current and retired employees and has its own contribution rate. The rate is a set percentage applied to every employee’s wages to determine an amount that is sent to the pension trust.

Tempe has some of the Valley’s highest contribution rates. The city will pay rates of 37.41 percent toward fire pensions and 33.58 percent toward police pensions as of July 1, according to PSPRS.

Tempe’s tab for public-safety pensions rose $7.8 million — from 2002-03 to 2011-12 — and is the second highest after Mesa.

“It isn’t until recently that the cost has grown to the point where it has become cumbersome and overburdensome to our budget,” said Ken Jones, Tempe finance and technology director.

Tempe, like other cities, was forced to cut back on services and downgrade employee wages as pension and health-insurance costs continued to rise and revenues dipped during the economic downturn.

Chandler seeks ‘balance’

Chandler taxpayers contributed $6.7 million toward public-safety retirements in 2011-12, up from $1.9 million in 2002-03.

Since 2009, Chandler has reduced its spending as a result of diminished revenue and higher costs, including pensions, said Dawn Lang, Chandler management services director. The city expects pension costs to continue rising year after year.

Chandler City Councilman Rick Heumann said the city’s pension situation is not as bad as those in other cities including Phoenix, which paid $93.8 million toward public-safety pensions in 2011-12, up from $7.2 million in 2002-03.

Police officers and firefighters “risk their lives every day,” Heumann said. “It’s important they are treated fairly and, obviously, the taxpayers are treated fairly as well.” [That is 100 percent BS!!!! Cop routinely give us the line they risk their lives every day to protect us, which is 100 percent BS. Year in and year out the 3 most dangerous jobs are fishermen, loggers and construction workers. Cops rarely fall into the top 10 most dangerous jobs. And job that requires driving a vehicle is a dangerous job, because auto accidents cause many fatalities and nasty injuries. So being a cop is a dangers job, just like being a truck driver or mailman is, because all those jobs require driving a vehicle, which makes the job dangerous. Yes, a few cops do get shot on the job, that is rare because most criminals are smart enough not to attacked arm people who can defend themselves. The most dangerous job when it comes to being shot in a crime are convenience and liquor store clerks. There jobs are far more dangerous then cops when it comes to being shot in a robbery.]

Chandler has taken action to curb additional retirement costs borne by taxpayers, he said.

Before a policy change that took effect several years ago, income that Chandler police officers earned while working extra duty after hours was taken into account when setting officers’ retirement rates.

The policy change stopped the practice but it “does not stop officers from working extra duty,” Heumann said.

Gilbert’s pension situation appears to be in better shape than many other communities, Mayor John Lewis said, after an inquiry from The Republic led him to research the town’s pension costs.

“We’re not seeing the dramatic increase in costs,” Lewis said. “Therefore, it has not been on my radar to fix it.”

Retirements for Gilbert’s Fire and Police departments are funded at 93 percent and 74.5 percent, respectively, which is higher than many other law-enforcement agencies.

Still, Gilbert’s costs rose $3.1 million from fiscal 2003 to fiscal 2012, and budget forecasts show increases in costs for all pension funds, Management and Budget Manager Dawn Irvine said.

Fewer feet on the street

Records indicate many Valley municipalities have laid off or stopped hiring many public-safety employees during the recession, leading to fewer firefighters and officers patrolling the streets and leaving some cities vulnerable, said Bolton, a retired Phoenix police officer.

As of yet, Mesa has not stopped hiring public-safety officers as a result of pension costs but it is getting the point where it could, Smith said.

Overall personnel costs in the Mesa Police Department, including pensions, are set to rise again in the coming fiscal year, he said.

“We’re just having to spend more for the same benefit,” Smith said. “I’d much rather be able to hire a new police officer or pay the police officers more.” [Well, it sounds like Mesa Mayor Scott Smith has also sold out the taxpayers he pretends to represents for the special interest groups in the police department]

Workers have also endured layoffs, salary freezes and furloughs as cities slashed their budgets to weather the financial hardship, exacerbated in part by rising pension costs. With stagnant salaries and fewer employees contributing financially to the PSPRS trust, cities and towns are forced to dip into their already-lean budgets to pick up the rest of the tab.

Despite fewer officers, records show that most cities have not experienced an increase in reported crimes, and some cities reported decreases in crime rates, which Jim Mann, executive director of the Fraternal Order of Police Arizona Labor Council, attributed to possible technological advances and fewer responding officers.

Bolton said the stress and continued criticism of the system have taken a toll on officers, who he said are also victims of poor investments and being unfairly blamed for the financial troubles of the PSPRS trust.

Long road to recovery

Public-safety officials estimate that it could be 10 to 15 years or longer before PSPRS reaches a healthy funding level and taxpayers aren’t on the hook to pour increasingly larger amounts of money into the system.

Jeffries said some legislators have used the troubled system as “an opportunity to try to make it out like the pension system is not sustainable and we should all go to defined-contribution plans,” such as 401(k)-type plans.

Jeffries said positive changes have been made to the PSPRS trust, including diversifying the system’s investment portfolio.

“Unfortunately, when you’re talking about a plan this size, a battleship can’t turn in a bathtub,” Jeffries said. “If there is any silver lining, we have learned never again will we allow employers to pay nothing. And we will never allow the fund to be so overweight in high-risk investments again.”

Reporter Gary Nelson contributed.

By the numbers

The median pension benefit for retired public-safety employees is $47,393, according to the Public Safety Personnel Retirement System.

In addition, some employees take part in the Deferred Retirement Option Plan. To encourage veteran police officers and firefighters to stay on the job longer, public-safety employees can work an extra five years before retiring.

Below are figures on pensions and DROP payments in the Southeast Valley. The figures are through this February.

Mesa

Retired employees in PSPRS: 558.

Average years of service: 20.

Average annual pension: $54,212.

Participants in DROP: 197.

Average DROP payment: $251,024.

Chandler

Retired employees in PSPRS: 118.

Average years of service: 22.

Average annual pension: $51,952.

Participants in DROP: 53.

Average DROP payment: $210,852.

Gilbert

Retired employees in PSPRS: 34.

Average years of service: 15.

Average annual pension: $46,492.

Participants in DROP: 3.

Average DROP payment: $143,743.

Tempe

Retired employees in PSPRS: 284.

Average years of service: 22.

Average annual pension: $52,871.

Participants in DROP: 91.

Average DROP payment: $206,133.

Source: PSPRS.

More articles on Mesa Mayor Scott Smith

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