The Sedona Fire District has started preparations for next year’s budget, but is still unsure how much money it will have.

The district is funded by taxes from property assessments, and Business Director Karen Daines said she expects this to be down by 15 percent.

SFD Governing Board Chairman Ralph Graves said the board is in a waiting game to see where the numbers are and how much, if any, the district will be down from last year. The final numbers will be available in February.

Graves said if the funds are down and things must be cut, he thinks the board would first look at decreasing capital project expenditures.

“We expect it to go down, but we don’t know by how much,” he said, adding the district could be surprised next month.

The 2009 budget was $15.93 million, and the current budget is $15.17 million.

In an e-mail, Daines said the budget process hinges on many participants, including residents, the governing board, Fire Chief Nazih Hazime, the executive team, management staff, labor associations, partner agencies and local governmental agencies.

The process began with a Dec. 9 joint Governing Board/executive management workshop to identify critical priorities for the fiscal year which gave the board opportunities to provide policy directives and goals for the budget.

Daines said the workshop was designed to tell the board the issue and get direction. The direction is to maintain the same services to the public and cut elsewhere.

She said the primary challenge to creating next year’s budget will be doing so with fewer funds.

“The biggest challenge we are facing in the fiscal year 2011 budget preparation process is an anticipated 15 percent decline to overall district assessed valuation due to real estate market values from the last several years,” she said. “As a result, we will be expected to do more with less, as we plan to keep the mil levy at $1.55 and not increase it to make up for valuation reductions.”

She said the district has been proactive in its long-range financial planning by establishing operating reserves, revisiting operational protocols and business practices to maximize efficiency of resources and to maximize non-tax sources of revenues. She added this tactic should ensure no service cuts will be necessary.

She said a 15 percent cut will likely will result in very, very limited capital expenditures.

She said those could include items like new vehicles and stations.

The finance department will prepare instructions and guidelines for managers to use in the preparation of budget requests before Hazime, Daines and the executive staff meets in late February with each department to review and if necessary modify each proposed line item.

A draft budget document will be produced and distributed Wednesday, Feb. 24, to the board and public. These documents are also published on the district’s Web site. Budget workshops will be held Wednesday, March 10, and Wednesday, March 24, to solicit input and to answer questions.

Once final changes are integrated into the tentative budget, the proposed budget is transmitted to the general public in the form of a public notice in the Sedona Red Rock News and posted in three public locations at least 30 days prior to the public meeting where the formal adoption of the budget will take place.

After completing the public hearings and required publishing, the board

will adopt a final budget in June.

Michael Maresh can be reached at 282-7795, ext. 125, or e-mail mmaresh@larsonnewspapers.com