Registered voters living within the City of Yuma will have quite a bit on their ballot when it arrives in the mail next month.
There will be four Yuma City Council seats to determine for the next four years. Incumbent Tim McClung and challenger Ryan Saffer both are running for mayor. There are five candidates vying for three council seats. They are currently held by Terri Frame, Jerome Benish and Vanessa Dischner, but none of them are running for another terms. The five vying for the seats are Michael Aagesen, Michael Fitzsimmons, Nathan O’Neal, Jeff Denney and Jerry Thompson.
Voters also are being asked to change the City Charter, putting the chief of police position under the authority of the city manager. The council currently is responsible for the city manager, chief of police and city clerk/treasurer.
And then there is the ballot question seeking permission to raise funds for constructing, equipping and operating a new swimming pool. The ballot question asks if the city’s debt can be increased by an amount not to exceed $6 million, with a maximum repayment cost of $9.5 million, utilizing sales and use tax revenue bonds or other financial obligations.
The question asks that a 0.75-percent sales and use tax be imposed beginning January 1, 2026. The increase, geared solely toward the swimming pool project, would terminate on the first day of the calendar year following the final repayment of all bonds or refunding bonds, which is anticipated to be January 1, 2042. Collection of the sales and use tax revenue is capped at $1.5 million in the first fiscal year, and then by whatever amount is generated. (The ballot question can be read in full in the Public Notices section.)
Read more about the ballot question and the council races in coming editions of the Pioneer. The ballots will be mailed out on October 10.