GOVERNMENT
FAITH H FAMILY H FREEDOM
provision of roads or through the service of providing an opportunity for events,” he said. “All of those things are types of services. But with a roadway as well as an event, we’re also providing an opportunity for economic growth because we view ourselves as a conduit to the growth of our own community and the quality of life within the community.” Konold said it all comes down to managing expectations. “The first year, everyone knows we’re not likely to see a profit,” Konold said. “Everyone has to take acceptance of that fact.” Building a brand In the Wild West Music Fest’s first year, there were many unknowns to be considered, like attendance, security and sanitation. Such items might seem boilerplate, but if you attend an event that lacks these, you’re unlikely to ever go back. Konold compared the first Wild West Music Fest to the opening of a new restaurant. He pointed out the experience attendees had at this first festival was going to affect its brand in the long term. “You have to make sure to get it right the first time,” Konold said. “It’s like if you try a restaurant for the first time, are you going to go back if everything’s a mess? No, you’re going to remember how gross it was and never go back.” With those thoughts in mind, Konold said the focus was the experience. “We put the pressure on SLE big time and told them it has to be safe and traffic has to be on point,” Konold said. “It has to be clean. We didn’t want to see neighborhoods filled with trash.” “They spent more money than they needed to,” Konold conceded. Room for improvement City leaders now have an idea of what to expect. Whether successful or problematic, everything was a learning experience, Konold said. “We now have a starting point,” Konold said. “We know we can scale down parking a little bit. We have a better understanding of what we’re going to need. We can reduce security and still be well within the margins of a safe event.” Each coming year is going to give the city a new set of data points. “And that’s what we want,” Konold said. “Every year, we’re going to take time and evaluate what we could have done better from a financial and operational standpoint. We want to see a pattern of progression.” Despite the stances of the mayor and city manager, Konold said: “We want to see our revenues meet our expenditures. We’ll look at that every year. And if there’s a point where we realize this is not penciling, we won’t do it. We’ll try other things.” He said the goal is to improve each year. The question is, starting when?
SHERIFF
TEEPLE for the People
COMMITTED TO LAW & ORDER Ross Teeple candidate for Pinal County Sheriff
ABOUT THE BED TAX
surpass $250,000. Of the 5.5% the city collects, 5% will go to the Wild West Music Fest with the remaining half-percent funding arts initiatives. The bed tax is a new revenue stream for the city, which saw its first hotel open only five years ago. It goes by many names — occupancy tax, travel tax and lodging tax. Arizona’s travel board refers to it as a transiency tax. The tax is aimed at visitors
rather than residents. These funds are earmarked for tourism events to attract visitors to Maricopa. State law stipulates they cannot be used for any other purpose. In Arizona, bed tax rates vary. In Maricopa, it’s set at 12.4% with 5.5% going directly to the city. The rest goes to the county and state. The lowest bed tax in Arizona is Huachuca City at 8%. The highest rate is in Colorado City at 20%.
Under a new plan this year, funding for the Wild West Music Fest would change in both amount and source. The funding commitment will top out at $265,000. The money for the festival will come from two sources: $240,000 in bed tax revenues and $25,000 from the general fund. Maricopa’s bed tax collections this year are expected to
H Only Candidate with PCSO experience H Most Pinal County Law enforcement experience H Pro second amendment H Will not enforce unconstitutional lockdown mandates
IS MARICOPA MUSICALLY INCLINED? Maricopa is a young city — not even old enough to buy a beer. There are no real venues for live music. An unscientific InMaricopa poll in August posed a question to our readers as to whether they would attend the city’s new Concerts in the Park series, which starts next month.
More than one-third of the 600 respondents said there was “not a chance” they would go. One-fifth said they probably wouldn’t go.
WILL YOU ATTEND THE CITY’S NEW CONCERTS IN THE PARK SERIES?
Teeple4Sheriff.com
13% Definitely
14% Probably
18% Undecided
20% Probably Not
35 % Not a chance
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InMaricopa.com | September 2024
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