County Supervisors Association of Arizona

In the October 23, 2009 CSA Update:

Navajo County Receives Homeland Security Money
County Fairs Thrive Despite Sluggish Economy
AZ State Parks in "Imminent Crisis", Says Report
CSA Summit Next Week!
Calendar

Navajo County Receives Homeland Security Money

-From the AZ Journal, By Tammy Gray-Searles

More than $300,000 in homeland security funds have been awarded to Navajo County, members of the board of supervisors learned last week. The supervisors unanimously approved acceptance of the funding.

The funds will be used for seven different projects, including $75,000 for an emergency back-up generator at the new Show Low emergency operations center, $49,905 for personal protective gear for the sheriff’s office, $7,020 for the Navajo County Citizen Corps program, $50,000 to enhance and update the county’s emergency operations plan, $10,800 for upgrades to the county’s emergency notification system, $22,650 to enhance the county’s ability to respond to mass casualties, $70,000 for a wireless Ethernet wide area network, and $19,000 for community emergency response team equipment and training.

Emergency Management Director Tommy Price noted that the funds will help keep Navajo County prepared for all types of emergencies and disasters. He explained that funds for some of the equipment will replace expired and used safety equipment, such as that used for responding to hazardous materials spills.

“Those are the things we really hope we never have to use, but we should have on hand in the event we need them,” Price remarked.

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County Fairs Thrive Despite Economic Slump

In many counties across Arizona fall is county fair season, and despite state budget cuts and a sluggish economy, many counties are seeing strong attendance numbers at the fairs.

Navajo County reported attendance of 22,000-comparable to last year's attendance. Attendance at the Graham County Fair was down approximately 8 percent from last year, but the county had expected an even larger drop due to the state of the economy in general.

Despite the economic crisis, people across the state appear to be heading to county fairs as an inexpensive, family friendly source of entertainment. Most county fairs include exhibitions, horse racing, and live performances. The Cochise County Board of Supervisors said that this year's fair, with the theme "Corn To Be Wild," "continues the time honored tradition of friendly competition, and is an opportunity to reflect on the county's rich and diverse heritage." Cochise County even had a booth staffed by county employees where fairgoers could learn more about county government and county services.

The Arizona County Fairs Racing and Betterment fund lost $182,600 in fund sweeps last year. The money in the fund is used to improve fairgrounds, county fairs and racing facilities. The legislature also changed the fund's formula: instead of receiving a share of fees and taxes paid at horse racing events, those fees will go to the state General Fund, and the Legislature will appropriate funds for county fairs. This has left many fair boards concerned for the fund's future, as the legislature will surely use more fund sweeps to battle the current year's budget deficit.

To connect to county fairs across Arizona, visit the website of the Arizona Fairs Association.

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AZ Parks in "Imminent Crisis", Says Report

From the Morrison Institute

Arizona’s 31 state parks are in “imminent crisis” and face closure and irreparable deterioration unless new and sustainable funding is established, parks officials and supporters warned at a news conference Thursday to release a special report, “The Price of Stewardship: The Future of Arizona State Parks.”

The 46-page report was prepared by the Morrison Institute for Public Policy, an independent, non-partisan center for public policy research, analysis and public outreach. Morrison Institute is part of the Arizona State University College of Public Programs.

“State parks are hard assets that we as a state own, and they are deteriorating rapidly,” said Grady Gammage Jr., senior research fellow at Morrison Institute and member of the Governor’s Sustainable State Parks Task Force.

“There’s about $200 million in deferred maintenance and really so very desperate needs. There are walls collapsing. There are sewage systems in the parks that are not compliant with legal requirements. Those kind of things are not being taken care of,” Gammage said, noting that Arizona’s state parks budget has been cut to literally nothing.

“We don’t receive any more state general fund monies to operate state parks,” noted Renee Bahl, director of Arizona State Parks. “What does that mean? It means we’ve had to close parks. … We’ve reduced hours at 17 park operations; they are closed two days a week. We are closing campgrounds and offering less services to the public.”

The closed parks include Jerome, McFarland, Oracle and San Rafael.

“We’re moving toward the total collapse of the park system,” said Bill Meek, member of Governor’s Sustainable State Parks Task Force, adding that fact makes little business sense since the economic impact from Arizona state parks is 10 times that of its operating budget.

Meek said he hopes the Morrison Institute report, combined with the governor’s task force on state parks to be issued at the end of this month, will help change the course for Arizona. “I hope that we can convince the governor and the legislature that something different has to be done for the state parks system, otherwise there won’t be a state parks system in just a very few years,” he said.

The new report, sponsored by the independent State Parks Foundation and Arizona State Parks, offers possible solutions to the funding crisis, including potential revenue options to provide stable, sustainable funding for Arizona’s state parks. Among the revenue options are partnerships with communities tied to state parks and a license-plate fee of $10 to $15 that would allow anyone with an Arizona non-commercial license plate to visit state parks without paying an additional fee.

“That is the greatest deal I have ever seen for public parks,” Bill Scalzo, a member of the Arizona State Parks Board and the Governor’s Sustainable State Parks Task Force, said of the proposed license-plate fee.

Arizona’s state parks would require an estimated $40 million to sustain operations, according to the report. Presently, state parks operate on a $19 million budget, mostly derived from Heritage Fund and user fees.

Gammage said several studies have shown Arizonans are overwhelmingly in favor of preserving open spaces and have a particular attachment to the state’s natural beauty, from deserts to mountains to waterways. “These are those places” that need to be preserved, Gammage said of state parks.

For a copy of the report, go to: 2009: “The Price of Stewardship: The Future of Arizona State Parks”.

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CSA Summit Next Week!

Final preparations are underway for CSA's 5th Annual Legislative Summit, hosted by Yuma County. We are expecting strong attendance from all 15 counties this year. We hope you're planning to join us for three days as we set our legislative agenda for the year, network with colleagues from across the state, and enjoy Yuma County's outstanding hospitality. We will be raffling off some very exciting prizes on Tuesday evening (imagine a chance to fly in a Harrier Jet simulator or to race at GM's Test Track!), and Yuma will be hosting a dinner at the Territorial Prison Wednesday night with Old West entertainment and homemade tortillas--yum!

Also, please note that due to the Summit, the CSA Update will be on hiatus next week. We'll be back November 6!

See you in Yuma!

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Calendar

Visit the CSA Calendar of Events at www.countysupervisors.org/calendar.

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