Pima County budget, with raises and tax cut, approved

Pima County employees will get a raise, and property owners will see a 10-cent primary property tax cut as part of the county’s $1.23 billion budget approved on a 3-2 vote Tuesday.

Supervisors Ray Carroll and Ally Miller were the “no” votes on the budget, which will cover fiscal year 2017.

County Administrator Chuck Huckelberry proposed a number of measures to pay for the raises, which are estimated to cost $15.4 million over the first year, including defunding some vacant and budgeted positions, budget cuts, and reforms at the jail intended to reduce its population.

However, several proposed changes to employee benefits will have to await separate approval by the board. Those include the county no longer paying into new employees’ health savings accounts (HSAs); requiring new employees to pay a minimum in premium costs every pay period; and splitting premium increases evenly among all employees and the county.

Under the approved budget, most employees will see raises of between 2 percent and 6 percent, with higher raises going to lower-paid employees. Sheriff’s deputies and corrections officers will get raises of between 2 percent and 20 percent to help address so-called wage compression, whereby new employees come in at wages near or equal to the wages of more senior employees.

The Service Employees International Union, which represents a majority of county employees, praised some elements of the plan but said Huckelberry’s proposals for health benefits would lead to a “two-tiered employee benefit hierarchy” and “offset real wage growth by imposing significant new health care costs,” according to a June 28 letter sent by local SEIU president Art Mendoza.

While saying he supports the “vast majority” of the administrator’s proposal, Supervisor Richard Elías said he was “concerned about retracting progress that we’ve made on health insurance for employees.”

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Elías asked that the motion approving the budget clarify that the board was not “implying any level of support” for the possible benefit changes.

In a June 22 memo laying out the raises and plans to pay for them, Huckelberry wrote that reducing health benefit costs is necessary for the county’s “long-term financial stability.”

Sheriff Chris Nanos, who had previously submitted a pay plan with larger raises, again described Huckelberry’s plan as “fair” during the meeting but said it addressed only “half” of the wage compression issue. He suggested that the board look into additional raises in January to get to “full decompression,” something that Huckelberry said will not happen.

Miller criticized Huckelberry’s proposal to get rid of a step system for current sheriff’s deputies and correction officers, saying it could “set up the county for potential litigation.”

After winning a recent lawsuit against the state, the county was off the hook for a roughly $15.8 million liability. That bill was going to be paid with a 10-cent primary property tax hike last year and a proposed 10-cent increase this year. The budget passed Tuesday does not include the latter, but does include a roughly 10-cent cut that cancels most of last year’s hike, bringing the primary rate down to $4.29 for every $100 of assessed value.

For the average homeowner, the primary rate reduction will save about $16.

While the primary rate is down, the secondary rate increased by 2 cents.