Detailed charts illustrate why the dominance will continue into the future
There appears to be little doubt but that the Prescott based executives and the west-side voting block on the Yavapai Community College Governing Board will continue to control all things educational for Sedona and the Verde Valley into the future. The residents on the east side of Mingus Mountain are virtually helpless to do anything about it.
The charts below illustrate the west side’s total dominance over the past half century and explain why it will continue in that role absent a major legislative change. The hope that the current administration would be amenable to considering creating two Administrative College Districts, one on the west side and the other on the east side, apparently sent shivers about cash flow down the backs of Prescott executives.
A primary reason there will be no major development changes is that the Prescott executives, after five decades, have completed most of their dreamed for facilities and programs on the west side. Now that they have most of them (they have just recently set aside a couple million to expand in Prescott Valley), it’s going to cost a lot of money to maintain and keep them going. They just dished out over a million, for example, to fix the roof, air conditioning, etc. on the Performing Arts Center.
The upkeep alone on the west-side “empire” will require continued significant financial help over the years from east side residents. The money flowing to the west side comes via east-side property taxes, construction taxes, student tuition, plus state and federal grants based in part on east side student enrollment. Having spent so much money on developing the west side of the County, it is reaching a point so it “just can’t afford much investment in Sedona/Verde Valley.” Just enough, probably, to keep the 70,000 residents from seriously uprising against the incredibly unfair treatment suffered by them over the past 50 years.
Review the charts for greater details and explanation.
