Pima County’s supervisors approved a $1.9 billion budget Tuesday for the next fiscal year, dedicating funding to key infrastructure projects, improving road conditions and raises for county employees.
The new budget, which applies to the 2023 fiscal year that began July 1, includes a 13-cent drop in county-levied property taxes at $5.0652 per $100 of taxable net assessed value, down from $5.1952 last fiscal year. However, residents’ bills will likely increase due to increased property valuations.
The county anticipates levying $510 million in property taxes this year, a $9 million increase over last year. The general fund budget reserve sits at about $41.2 million and proposed expenditures total more than $679 million.
This year’s budget is a decrease from last year’s more than $2 billion in expenditures, which included $350 million in COVID-related grants. Fiscal year 2023’s budget “reflects the County’s transition out of the COVID-19 pandemic response and the return to a new normal,” County Administrator Jan Lesher wrote in her transmittal of the spending plan to the board of supervisors.
Key expenditures in the budget include:
$177.2 million for the capital project program across various county departments, including a new Sunset Road-Interstate 10 connection with an extension to River Road, renovation of the Pima County Medical Examiner’s building and security upgrades at the county jail.
$66.8 million to repair and preserve 272 miles of roads. The county’s goal is to increase the average Pavement Condition Index rating of all unincorporated county roads to 80 by 2030.
$5 million to establish a reserve for future affordable housing projects.
Although the final budget adoption was set for June 21, the board’s vote was delayed to July 5 as supervisors weighed options for a new employee compensation plan amid continuing struggles with retention and recruitment.
The final compensation plan will cost about $19.7 million for an 8.5% raise for those making $35,000 a year or less, 5% for those making $35,001-$75,000, 3% for those making $75,001-$150,000 and 1% for those making more than $150,001.
