Once the $100 – $142 million price tag for the Rodeo/Fairgrounds master plan became public on April 14, city staff and Prescott Frontier Days’ (PFD) leadership went into “damage control mode” rather than face Prescott taxpayers.¹ The very next day, PFD President Kym Lopez told KYCA radio host Karen Fann she had concerns with the master plan’s cost.² This, despite knowing the price tag as far back as March 3.³ At the same time, City Manager Dallin Kimble hastily cancelled the April 20 master plan open house for the public after he reviewed the plan and budget for the first time on April 13.⁴ Now it appears the city’s planning consultant, GH2 Architects, is being blamed for the plan’s cost⎯as if the consultant alone created the plan out of thin air. In reality, the plan is the product of Kimble’s 2025 Master Plan Steering Committee along with over 250 stakeholders and community members who also provided their input.⁵ GH2’s role was to synthesize the “needs” and “wishes” into a plan that fits inside the property’s 35 acres.
But here’s the principal question: Since the city only received $15.3 million from the state legislature for Rodeo/Fairgrounds improvements, will Prescott taxpayers be asked to foot the rest of the plan’s construction costs along with forever maintenance and operating expenses?⁶ And it’s not only the price tag raising concerns. There’s criticism about what is in the plan, what has been left out of the plan, and who benefits. Public statements from Kym Lopez (PFD) and Levi Darby (Yavapai County Fair Association) want the master plan to prioritize their organizations because they are “revenue-generating to the city and require the most space.” Both Lopez and Darby argue the master plan costs are inflated because the plan demolishes buildings and provides amenities so the property can be shared with other tenants and the community.⁷ Stunningly, though, the master plan omits expenses for demolition, engineering, architectural or land acquisition costs.⁸
Instead, more than half of the total cost is attributed to constructing six new buildings totaling 134,979 square feet.⁹ Buildings, like a new equipment barn, restrooms, multi-use indoor arena, livestock cover/viewing area, and multi- purpose community hub pavilion, all specifically benefit rodeo, livestock and large performance events and their host organizations. Only the restrooms are required by the Legislative appropriation.¹⁰ This building wish-list looks suspiciously like PFD’s 2023 Master Plan, which met with significant community opposition.¹¹
However, one omission in the plan creates space allocation concerns and could add to the total cost. Numerous city reports dating back to 2008 show the Rodeo/Fairgrounds are a significant source of equine E.coli, nitrogen, and phosphorus pollution in the city’s watershed.¹² This is due to runoff from the property carried by Miller and Granite Creeks into Watson Lake. The city incurs significant expense to treat contaminants at Watson Lake, but efforts to reduce the problem at the source have been minimal. Because manure has been ground into the soils on the property over many years of use, the amount of contaminated drainage is present, even when no equine or livestock events occur.
Over the years, the city has attempted to improve drainage by investing in a single biological treatment basin, rooftop rainwater recapture systems, and underground detention chambers. Ongoing sampling shows these have been insufficient to address the volume of contamination.¹³ Unfortunately, the money and space needed for additional drainage improvements are not included in the master plan, and no funds have yet been earmarked from the $15.3 million state appropriation.¹⁴ By excluding critical drainage improvements, the city runs the risk of not complying with the requirements of the Legislature’s appropriation.¹⁵
Prescott taxpayers historically have been queasy with multi-million dollar event center proposals.¹⁶ Add to this the puzzling absence of any due diligence – for example, the city has not conducted a feasibility study to determine if an event center can be sustained. Even a scaled-back master plan with an outside construction investor would likely require taxpayer money for maintenance and operational expenses. Since PFD began hosting special events in addition to the World’s Oldest Rodeo, they have operated at a loss. Tax returns show that between 2022 and 2024, PFD had a net loss (after $2.8 million in donations) of $1,494,962 over that three-year period.¹⁷
While past performance suggests it is unlikely PFD can afford additional ongoing maintenance and operating costs, the current condition of the property suggests that the city cannot afford them either. It is imperative to confirm if the economic benefit from one week of the World’s Oldest Rodeo can be duplicated throughout the year with other events. And if so, what impacts will additional large events have on existing infrastructure and surrounding neighborhoods, causing more problems and costs?
The current master plan process appears chaotic at best, exacerbating conflicts rather than producing solutions. Who is guiding the master plan decisions⎯and whose voices are being overlooked? Is it PFD and its President/board, the Fair Association, other Fairgrounds tenants, surrounding neighborhoods, Dallin Kimble, or ultimately the Prescott City Council, which holds fiduciary responsibility to Prescott taxpayers? The rodeo is an iconic part of Prescott’s heritage and should remain so. But it is vital to share clear information so taxpayers and decision-makers can distinguish necessary upkeep from expensive, optional additions. Use the $15.3 million state appropriation⎯a rare opportunity⎯to fund critical deferred maintenance to address current problems. Do not use it to make a down payment on any unaffordable master plan that redevelops the property into an unsustainable operating and maintenance obligation that may ultimately fall on Prescott taxpayers.
Stop the stampede on our tax dollars.
FOOTNOTES
¹Prescott Daily Courier, April 14, 2026, “Public to get first look at what’s next for Prescott Rodeo Grounds April 20,” Brodie Greene. https://www.dcourier.com/eedition/page-
a1/page_6adc9217-d71b-5e15-a818-78916fcf403a.html
²The Karen Fann Show, PM Talk on KYCA, April 15, 2026, minute 00:43:23, Kym Lopez states: “The price tag is outrageous for this, and I would never ask for the taxpayers to
do that. So made some phone calls and I threw a big old fit about it and I wasn’t going to put my name on it. And my name, as in Kym Lopez and a councilwoman, but my name
also is Kym Lopez, president of Prescott Frontier Days.” https://kyca.info/2026/04/16/kyca-pm-show-04-15-26/
³March 3, 2026 Meeting Report [minutes] of the Rodeo/Fairgrounds Master Plan Steering Committee. https://prescott-az.gov/prescott-rodeo-grounds-master-plan/
⁴Prescott Daily Courier, April 15, 2026, “Not ready for public consumption,” Brodie Greene. https://www.dcourier.com/eedition/page-a1/page_8d6c8aeb-2e79-5c9c-a8b8-
ab386ca3c7cd.html
⁵City Manager Dallin Kimble presented his “steering committee” concept to the Prescott City Council on January 28, 2025. Meetings for about 60 stakeholders each were held
in November 2025 and March 2026. A public open house was held in February 2026. The seven-member Steering Committee began meeting in April 2025 and included two
representatives from each of the following groups: city staff, Prescott Frontier Days, Gail Gardner Neighborhood. The U of A Extension had one individual representing all
other tenants. The Steering Committee reviewed Request for Proposal responses from master plan consultants in August 2025 and recommended hiring GH2 Architects. The
Prescott City Council approved the contract with GH2 in September 2025 after which the Steering Committee’s work commenced. Since that time, 10 additional people have
been added to the Steering Committee for a total of 17 representatives. However, the neighborhood’s request to add representation for environmental mitigation have been
voted down. New additions include representatives from: Prescott Farmer’s Market, the Antique Auto Club, the Yavapai County Fair Association and a second individual from
the U of A Extension. Disclosure: One of this article’s authors served as a Steering Committee member/alternate from August of 2025 – October 2025 and was involved in
the selection and recommendation of GH2 as the city’s consultant.
⁶The $15.3 million was originally appropriated by the Arizona State Legislature to Prescott Frontier Days in 2023 for FY 2024. A lawsuit was filed against the Arizona
State Legislature by two Prescott residents alleging the appropriation was illegal and violated the Arizona Constitution’s Gift Clause. After several other parties joined the
lawsuit, it was finally resolved in 2025 with a Superior Court Judge in Maricopa County issuing a verdict affirming the appropriation was illegal. But Senator Mark Finchem
(LD1) reintroduced the funding in 2025, appropriating the $15.3 million instead to the City of Prescott. The bill was passed by the Legislature, and the city received the money in the summer of 2025. The bill’s language spells out what the funds may be used for. It does NOT prohibit their use for constructing capital items identified in a master plan, as PFD President Kym Lopez has repeatedly claimed. That is a position PFD has adopted; not a requirement of the legislation. Note the following excerpt from the 57th Arizona State Legislature Amended Fact Sheet for S.B.1735 (general appropriations 2025-2026): “174. Requires the State Treasurer to distribute the $15,000,000 appropriated in the FY 2024 General Appropriations Act to the City of Prescott to improve and refurbish the rodeo grounds owned by the city. 175. Specifies the monies distributed from the State Treasurer to the City of Prescott to improve and refurbish the rodeo grounds owned by Prescott must be promptly spent to promote the use of the rodeo grounds, including landscaping, hardscaping, drainage and the replacement, improvement and increased capacity of aging wastewater and sewer infrastructure.” See also Page 112, Section 121, Line 26, SB1735 General Appropriations 2025-2026. Prescott Daily Courier, May 31, 2025, “Disappointment over rodeo funds ruling, but decision not unexpected,” Bob Christie and “Rodeo Grounds in line for $40M upgrade, but City of Prescott, Mayor Goode ‘left in dark’,” Debra Winters, February 1, 2024.
⁷“Kym Lopez, Prescott Valley councilwoman and member of the steering committee for the master plan, expressed concerns that the draft plan lacked focus. It is a rodeo fairground [she said]. And the rodeo and the fair need to have the majority of the landmass to function. And then we need to identify what is available outside of the revenue-generating entities. And then we can design around that. https://www.dcourier.com/eedition/page-a1/page_8d6c8aeb-2e79-5c9c-a8b8-ab386ca3c7cd.html Lopez restates this view again on the April 15, 2026 Karen Fann KYCA radio show at minute 00:40:32: “We have function and we are with the Fair on the function. We need a large amount of landmass to be able to function as a rodeo and a fair, which are protected, by the way, in case anybody wants to know, they are protected by the revised statutes of the state of Arizona [sic]. So we need quite a large area to be able to do that.” https://kyca.info/2026/04/16/kyca-pm-show-04-15-26/ And finally, Lopez reiterates her concerns a third time here: Prescott Daily Courier, April 15, 2026, “Not ready for public consumption,” Brodie Greene. “Lopez also felt the plan was incomplete because it did not identify funding sources for the over $100 million in capital improvements.” https://www.dcourier.com/eedition/page-a1/page_8d6c8aeb-2e79-5c9c-a8b8-ab386ca3c7cd.html April 14, 2026, Prescott City Council Voting Meeting. Levi Darby, Yavapai County Fair
Association Call to the Public, start at minute 1:00:41. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Hg1OWvtTWU At minute 1:03:18 Darby states: “The plan that was presented isn’t going to work. We don’t need more dog parks or a swimming pool there. This is an event center, not a community center and they hate me for saying that, but that’s the truth.”
⁸The master plan program documents were made public by the City of Prescott after the March Steering Committee meeting. As of April 17, 2026, they remained available to
the public. https://prescott-az.gov/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Rodeo-Steering-Committee-Meeting-Minutes-03-03-26.pdf
⁹See footnote 8.
¹⁰See footnote 6.
¹¹Prescott Daily Courier: “Rodeo Grounds master plan presentation met with divided crowd,” June 7, 2023, Cindy Barks. https://www.dcourier.com/news/rodeo-grounds-
master-plan-presentation-met-with-divided-crowd/article_80bc5718-6e5a-555c-bc2d-23933f190a8a.html “Prescott Frontier Days will focus on essential repairs, improvements,” Information provided by Prescott Frontier Days. https://www.dcourier.com/news/prescott-frontier-days-will-focus-on-essential-repairs-improvements/article_2447292d-6e25-57e5-89fa-050575e92f66.html
¹²“Upper Granite Creek Watershed Pollutant Reduction Plan,” November 2020, Wood Environment & Infrastructure Solutions, Inc. “Improvement Plan for the Upper Granite Creek Watershed,” Arizona, Version 2.1, Prescott Creeks & the Granite Creek Watershed Improvement Council 12/31/2012.
¹³“Diving into Prescott’s Health Lakes Program,” Presentation to the Citizens Water Advocacy Group, April 11, 2026, minute 52:60. https://cwagaz.org/videos
Rodeo Grounds Manure Composter Statement of Need, prepared by Prescott City Staff and obtained via public records request.
¹⁴See footnote 6. See also January 28, 2025, Prescott City Council Study Session,
“Presentation, Discussion & Request for Direction Regarding the Prescott Frontier Days Rodeo Grounds.” https://docs.prescott-az.gov/WebLink/DocView.aspxid=1056965&dbid=0&repo=CityOfPrescott&searchid=f6422731-165a-4067-b616-fda50f2faa88
¹⁵See footnote 6 as it applies to the drainage improvement requirement in appropriation language. See also: https://www.signalsaz.com/articles/state-legislators-warn-15-3m-
prescott-rodeo-funding-is-at-risk/
¹⁶The city has wrestled with the idea of a multi-purpose facility since 2001, initially considering an equestrian center on donated land at the junction of highway 89 and 89A
in 2002. The idea of an events center was proposed again in 2021 by former Mayor Greg Mengarelliwhen he became the Business Development Manager for Prescott
Frontier Days. April 26, 2002 Prescott Council Agenda Memorandum “B” from Larry Assaro, City Manager, “Multi-Purpose Recreational Complex.”
April 26, 2021, Prescott Daily Courier, “Greg Mengarelli named Business Development Manager at World’s Oldest Rodeo.”https://www.dcourier.com/news/mengarelli-named-
business-development-manager-at-world-s-oldest-rodeo/article_5c87666f-b870-5af0-a9f1-314eb253002c.html
¹⁷PFD Tax returns available via www.Candid.org (formerly Guidestar) or IRS Tax Exempt Search at apps.irs.gov/app/eos/ 2024 Tax Return obtained from Prescott Frontier Days via Records request. Net losses after donations total as follows: 2021 – donations offset losses, 2022 -$349,206, 2023 – $659,473, 2024 – $486,463. See IRS 990 Form Part I Line 19. Reported donations as follows: 2021 – $935,881, 2022 – $860,698, 2023 – $807,155, 2024 – $1,145752. See IRS Form 990 Part I, Line 8.