The Town of Cave Creek negotiated a 20-year Inter-Governmental Agreement (IGA) with the State Land Department (ASLD). The IGA gives the Town the right to open bidding to purchase 4,000+ of those acres, currently zoned as open space, at any time until 2029.
So where do we stand now?
Council Members Elkema, Rhoades and myself attempted to get $763,000 of new Preservation Funding into the FY’25 Town budget.
During that Council discussion, we were instead offered $100,000 by the Mayor and the other three council members. We agreed to their offer. I was later advised by the Town Manager before the final budget vote, that the Town staff would not support the new $100,000 in Preservation Funding.
With $30 million in Town reserves, some of the last desert open space in Northern Maricopa County, and within our Town, we could not get the needed four votes to spend ‘five cents’ on Preservation.
Since 2017, The Town has diverted the Preservation funds, collected via sales-tax money earmarked for Preservation. Monies diverted by that Town Council has instead funded Cave Creek’s water projects.
This year’s money was diverted for – you guessed it – more WATER projects.
While the diverted funds in 2017 could have been reasonably justified, now, with $30 million in the Town reserves, it is unjustifiable. It’s offensive to think four of the Town’s elected officials could not muster 5 cents of new money to commit to Preservation.
The shame is that NOBODY would KNOW about the Preservation funding denial by those in POWER without this letter being published.
Vote ‘4’ Preservation — our Future Preservation depends on it.
Tom Augherton
Council Member, Cave Creek
