Councilmember David Lane said the Lake Havasu City Council and city staff got a lot done this year, one being the balanced budget.
“People want the infrastructure that we promise and we do that without raising taxes,” Lane said. “We put an extra $10 million into the roads this year, because that’s one of the things the citizens had said they wanted us to put the money into.”
Additionally, work on the Island Path and Site Six boat launch ramp has begun, and the city was able to work with the legislature and senate to get Highway 95 repaved.
Redundancy of some systems was also achieved this year.
“We now have our redundant water supply, so if our main rain well has to get taken offline, we have water for all of the citizens,” Lane said.
Finally, Lane said they were able to get some authority back on regulating short-term rental.
As of March 1, the city adopted an ordinance stating that rental property owners are required to register and obtain a permit for each property prior to being offered for rent.
They must also “provide neighbors notification of intent to rent, evidence of insurance, [and] a form of personal identification to apply.”
Lane said next year, the city needs to continue working on getting local control back to handle rentals the way people in Havasu want them handled, not the way people in Phoenix want them handled.
“There are a lot of cities having problems with short term rentals, and the solution isn’t for the legislature to fix it, but for the legislature to give local control back,” Lane said.
Another continued focus going into next year identified by Lane will be maintaining infrastructure such as roads and creating redundancies in systems.
Lane also said creation of a balanced budget is crucial.
“My goal is to ensure we don’t raise taxes,” Lane said.
