Recreation Centers of Sun City corporate offices 10626 W. Thunderbird Blvd. Sun City, AZ
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By Kat Fimmel, Recreation Centers of Sun City board president
As our community continues to evolve, it is reasonable to expect some growing pains.
We also need to be mindful that Sun City is not immune to what happens outside our walls. So, it is also reasonable, as changes continue to occur, that members will want and expect more information with greater transparency from management and the board.
The question then becomes, what constitutes transparency? There are those members who say that transparency means sharing every last detail of every aspect of the organization, with little regard to its impact. In actuality, transparency means sharing information in a way that is easy to understand, so that it is both useful and empowering. It is also part of transparency to inform members that information is either not available or is not shareable. Building contracts and employee actions are two that quickly come to mind.
Even though we have been quite transparent, and very clear in the information we provide, some members chose to believe that we are not being transparent, or alternately we are not being “transparent enough.” For transparency to work, we have to be transparent with each other. What is the value of transparency if members opt not to listen to what is being said?
Transparency also means operating in a way that makes it easy for our members to see and understand the actions being taken. Timing is always critical in life, and in this case we are in the midst of our annual budgeting process. It allows us the opportunity to re-evaluate past decisions and re-establish a more member friendly system; one that encourages participation of greater numbers of members.
The interim general manager outlines this new review process as follows.
“As we begin to develop the financial budget for 2024, the Budget and Finance Committee will be much more involved in setting direction for key areas, including assessment levels, key revenue and expense line items, and the capital projects to be included in next year’s budget. The committee will also develop a more systematic process for funding capital projects in the future.”
“The committee held conducted its first meeting July 5 to discuss the 2024 budget. This is a marked change from the 2023 budget process, when the committee did not meet until October to review the proposed 2023 budget.”
“The committee will be meeting bi-weekly over the summer and fall to develop the 2024 budget. Members are encouraged to attend these meetings, 1 p.m. every other Wednesday in the Lakeview board room.”
By implementing this process, the old, more internal process, which was very short and had only a cursory review and sign-off, will evolve into a more external process that will allow for input by all interested parties. This new process will result in a budget document that will be more easily understood and provide an accurate depiction of the corporation’s finances and expenditures.
Sun Cities history has taught us that we are most effective when we stand together and represent our community as a whole. Every decision we make today should be to prepare our community for the generations to come so they too will experience self-governance and fiduciary soundness as members of our community.
Editor’s Note: We’d like to invite our readers to submit their civil comments, pro or con, on this issue. Email AZOpinions@iniusa.org.
