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Supervisor McCloud Chosen for Leadership Institute
NACo and The CLI will be held in  NACo recognized Coconino and Gila counties for "community-based government volunteer programs that provide a legacy for the future," awarding them with the NACo Acts of Caring Awards. The Gila County Collaborative Community Fire Program joins county departments with the sheriff's volunteer posse and numerous citizen volunteers to improve fire safety and prevent the spread of wildfires in the county. The program includes the distribution of brush bins to reduce combustible materials and placement of water pots for helicopters to provide a first strike against small fires before they escalate. The Coconino County Community Services Volunteer Program serves county residents who are elderly, disabled, or home-bound. Volunteers deliver meals and provide social interaction, help residents with transportation to medical appointments, do yard work, and provide respite for primary caregivers. Coconino and Gila were two of only 18 counties nationwide who were given the NACo award this year.
Voter Protected Spending
Following a long debate on the subject last week, the Senate Appropriations Committee voted on Tuesday to approve HCR 2044: voter-protection; temporary budget suspension (Pearce). As approved by the House, the proposal would have allowed the state to suspend spending on voter-approved priorities (such as AHCCCS) in a year when both the Governor and the legislature project a budget deficit. The Appropriations Committee amended the bill to specify that the budget deficit must equal at least one percent of the total state expenditures in order to allow the suspension, and to prohibit the suspension from occurring within three years of a reduction in any state tax.
Though the amendments addressed some of the concerns raised by the committee last week, some members still believed the measure would exert too much legislative control over priorities that had been established through ballot initiatives. Senator Huppenthal, who voted yes to move the proposal forward, said he thought there was a lot more work to be done. He urged the bill's supporters to hold "substantially more negotiation" with those who had successfully gained voter approval for their ballot initiatives. If those individuals or interest groups feel the legislature is undermining the funding they obtained for their priorities, Huppenthal argued, the proposal would not be approved by voters in the November election.
Property Tax
Governor Napolitano vetoed HB 2220: state equalization property tax repeal (J. Weiers) this week, stating, "permanently repealing a tax that supports such basic needs as schools and education during a time of severe budgetary deficits would be the height of fiscal irresponsibility." The bill, which had been stalled in the Senate until Senator Ken Cheuvront (D-15) agreed to vote for the proposal, would have permanently repealed the state's education equalization property tax rate. The rate was suspended for three years under a compromise agreement in 2006.
 Late Thursday evening, the legislature approved a package to address the FY08 budget deficit. HB 2620: budget adjustments; fiscal year 2007-2008 (Boone) was approved by bipartisan votes in both the House and the Senate. The bill provides for $1.37 billion in state revenues through a mixture of fund sweeps, agency budget cuts and shifts from the rainy day fund.The bill negatively impacts Maricopa and Pima counties by shifting 100 percent of state ALTCS costs to them for FY08, a total impact of more than $7 million. Counties will also see reductions in numerous allocations from a variety of state funds, such as the State Lake Improvement Fund (the bill shifts $4.1 million from SLIF) and judicial appropriations ($1.5 million is shifted from the Judicial Collections Enhancement Fund and $1.5 million from the Criminal Justice Enhancement Fund).
The budget package does not include some of the significant county costs that were proposed earlier in the process, however, including a shift of state Restoration to Competency costs (which could have totaled $1.6 million) and statutory changes to shift costs for state tourism efforts and the Department of Public Safety Crime Lab (which would have shifted at least $3 million in FY08).
A last-minute amendment sponsored by Senator Ken Cheuvront (D-15) would have removed $200 million from the county and municipal share of state sales tax, a proposal that would have taken more than $81 million from counties' FY08 distributions. The amendment received very little support, however, and was not included in the budget package.
The budget also avoided any shifts from the Highway User Revenue Fund (HURF), though it shifts $42 million from the Statewide Transportation Accelerated Needs (STAN) Account to the Department of Public Safety for highway patrol operations.
Governor Napolitano signed the budget bill, and attention now turns fully to FY09 budget negotiations. The FY09 budget deficit is projected to be up to $1.9 billion, an amount that was not significantly reduced by the one-time fund sweeps approved in the FY08 budget changes. Budget cuts are expected to be much deeper in the upcoming fiscal year, and several proposals have already been discussed that would dramatically hurt county budgets. The shift of state prisoners to county jails, an increase in state photo radar (and the subsequent impact on county courts systems), and additional cuts to state transportation resources are still on the table. As budget discussions move forward, it is imperative that county officials notify their legislators of the severe impacts these costly proposals would have on their county operations and constituent services.
Check the CSA Advocacy page for additional updates as budget negotiations continue.
This week, the Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT) Director Victor Mendez briefed the CSA Board on a proposed 2008 ballot initiative designed to increase investment in transportation infrastructure.
"We have choices to make. We have to understand the transportation consequences if we decide to wait to act after 2008," stated Mr. Mendez as he explained the Governor's call to action rather than further studies. "I couldn't in good conscience tell the Governor 'we'll be back in eighteen months after we study [transportation needs] some more' when she asked for a transportation solution. We already know a lot about major transportation priorities across the state."
Mr. Mendez presented a draft proposal, including possible funding distributions. The plan hinges on voter approval of a $.01 statewide increase in sales tax that would be dedicated to
While grateful for the presentation, some counties expressed concerns with the proposal and the distribution of the funds. Many counties had reservations about being "donor" counties. For example,
Other counties also expressed concerns that the imposition of a new tax would drive sales tax rates to over ten percent in a number of jurisdictions, which many cite as the maximum voters will tolerate. Some counties may ask for local transportation or jail district sales taxes in the future, but their ability to obtain support for the idea would likely be undermined because the state transportation tax co-opted that capacity.
The plan as it stands now, in a fairly vague form, is referred to as a "work in progress" that will continue to develop as ADOT receives additional stakeholder feedback.
An effort to develop a consensus state trust land reform proposal came to an end last week when conservation groups filed a ballot initiative with their own version of state trust land reform. A wide-ranging stakeholder group, including Governor Napolitano and several prominent legislators, had spent months negotiating state trust land reform following a failed attempt to refer state trust land reform to the ballot last session. The new ballot initiative does not reflect a consensus agreement, however, and several stakeholders are expected to strongly oppose the measure.
If approved by voters, the ballot initiative would set aside 570,000 acres of designated lands for permanent conservation. Counties, municipalities and state agencies would be permitted to buy the designated lands at appraised value, rather than through a competitive auction process. In addition, the state would be required to coordinate with counties and municipalities when planning and using state trust lands for development purposes.
The proposal does not grant clear county ownership of the Lassen rights-of-way that have been in "legal limbo" for decades. Senator Jake Flake, who had consistently insisted that these rights-of-way be addressed in the final ballot proposal, expressed dismay at the outcome of the state trust land discussions. "We spent months negotiating on a compromise proposal that could be a legacy for our state and political leaders," he stated. "The new initiative would give away hundreds of thousands of acres of state land, and wouldn't address the concerns counties have relating to public access. If they were required to purchase all the Lassen rights-of-ways, my counties would go broke."
It is unclear whether homebuilders, ranchers and other stakeholders will put forward their own state trust land reform proposal.
In order to place the initiative on the November 2008 ballot, proponents of the proposal must collect more than 230,000 valid signatures prior to July 3.
Click here to view the ballot initiative, including the list of which designated conservation lands are in your county.
HB 2677 would prohibit
To comply with the Act, a state's driver's license must include a standard set of information and meet various security standards. New licenses might also include a radio frequency identification (RFID) chip, which would allow information on the card to be read electronically but which could also be used to track the chip's location. In addition, states must also implement security features in agencies that issue IDs and verify the citizenship of ID applicants.
Numerous states have objected to the Real ID Act on grounds ranging from invasion of privacy to unfunded mandates. An analysis done by the National Conference of State Legislatures indicated that the Act could cost as much as $11 billion to implement nationwide, as most citizens in the country would require new licenses. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has attempted to reduce the bill's implementation costs by extending the time available to provide new ID cards to American over age 50. Additionally, states have raised concerns that new IDs might be more vulnerable to identity theft since some RFID chips could be read by wireless mobile readers without the cardholder's knowledge. After 17 states passed legislation opposing the Act in 2007, the DHS has extended the deadline for states to comply until 2009. Many states will qualify for an extension to 2011 based on meeting certain benchmarks related to ID security.
This week, the legislature considered the following bills with county impacts. Click here to obtain archived videos of committee hearings. Note: click here for a listing of committee names and their abbreviations.
Looking Back: Monday, April 14
Looking Back: Tuesday, April 15
Looking Back: Wednesday, April 16
The following proposals with county impact are scheduled to be considered in the week ahead; click here to watch the committee hearings live, or click here to view archived video of committees.
Note: Both the House and Senate have wrapped up their regularly-scheduled committee hearings, and only the Appropriations committees will continue to hold hearings throughout the rest of the session. The deadline for conference committees has been extended into May. For daily information on votes and schedules, visit the legislative calendar.
Coming Up: Monday, April 21
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The National Association of Counties (NACo) selected Yuma County Supervisor Russell McCloud to participate in the NACo County Leadership Institute this summer.
The Arizona Senate is considering a measure that would opt |
County Supervisors Association of Arizona
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