FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
The RCSC Board of Directors have the task of approving fee increases to annual property assessments, the cost of privilege cards, host punch cards/daily guest fees along with fees for golf and bowling at their meeting on Thursday, December 22, 2016.
The Board had originally requested that RCSC General Manager Jan Ek prepare the 2017 balanced budget with no increases to assessments or fees, which was accomplished by cutting numerous operating expenses and was presented to and approved by the Finance and Budget Committee in early November.
When Arizona voters less than a week later approved Proposition 206, which calls for increasing the minimum wage 24% from $8.05 to $10 per hour effective January 1, 2017 (in addition to granting sick leave with pay for all part-time workers which was not available to such part-time employees previously) it was necessary to consider some major adjustments as this change alone increased the 2017 RCSC budget by $1,039,545 for wages, payroll taxes and benefits.
To accommodate this increase, and with operating expenses already cut, the RCSC Board of Directors was faced with no other choice than to increase annual property assessment fees, privilege card fees (both annual and short-term), host punch card/daily guest fees, golf fees, bowling fees and facility rental fees. These increases combined are budgeted to meet the additional payroll expenses due to Proposition 206. The increases in operating costs due to vendor and supply cost increases as a result of Proposition 206 are impossible to project at this point and will likely require additional operating adjustments throughout the year.
During the recent Board/Member Exchange, RCSC Board Vice President Rich Hoffer expressed his sentiments regarding the proposed motion: “I am as sick about having to raise these fees as you are. I do not want to vote for these increases but when Arizona voters passed Proposition 206 they gave me no choice. The thing that we need to learn from this vote is there are consequences to actions. Currently 55% of RCSC’s employees are making less than the new minimum wage as of January 1, 2017, and a full 65% are also Sun City residents. Every other active retirement community in the state is in the same position we are.”
The effects of Proposition 206 will continue beyond 2017. The minimum wage will increase to $10.50 in 2018, $11 in 2019 and $12 in 2020. Additional increases will likely be necessary to cover these additional costs and cuts to services in the future may need to be considered at some point.
The RCSC Board of Directors monthly meeting will be held at 9:00am on December 22 in the Sundial Auditorium, a week earlier than usual due to the Christmas holiday. Sundial Recreation Center is located at 14801 N. 103rd Ave. in Sun City.
The agenda and motions for Board meetings can currently be found on the RCSC website at www.sunaz.com/corporate-records/corporate/meetings.
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