Horseshoe Bend Fees Effective April 2019

At the December 19, 2018 City Council meeting, the Council discussed the proposed entrance fee schedule for Horseshoe Bend. The City is proposing to start charging an entrance fee to the iconic landmark beginning April 1, 2019. Before they are able to implement the fee, per A.R.S. §9-499.15, the City must post the fees for a minimum of sixty-days prior to their implementation.

During the meeting, Deputy Mayor Kocjan and Councilor Davis spoke in favor of option one, and Councilor Bowlby spoke in favor of option 4, and stated the only reason was due to the fact that all visitors, no matter the form of transportation would be charged the same per visitor.

Councilor Bowlby also inquired if other fee options were reviewed that broke down to the same amount charged to each visitor. Using the passenger vehicles for his example and mentioning that over 70% of the visitors to Horseshoe bend are passenger vehicles, Councilor Warner stated that through the reviews and calculations conducted, the $10 charge was the only one where the City was seeing positive returns rather than staying negative.

Councilor Davis inquired about the possibility of implementing a discount or free entry to locals. In response, Mayor Tappan stated the subject would have to be discussed either during another council meeting or a work session, and that all the council was to do at last night’s meeting was determine which fee schedule the Council wished to have published.

The fees will be to assist the City in recuperating the money that has been spent on and earmarked for the project, and for year-round maintenance of the amenities being installed at Horseshoe Bend.

The fee schedule options presented to the City Council: