Supervisors approved a $1.31 billion budget Tuesday, with a slim majority agreeing to countywide departmental budget cuts.
It was unclear Tuesday whether those spending cuts will affect public services.
Even with the budget cut of 1% for most county departments, lower taxes will not be achieved, a critical goal of Republican Supervisor Ally Miller. She had suggested a number of high-profile proposals to cut millions from the budget to achieve what she calls a property tax-neutral budget.
The 3-to-2 vote fell along party lines. Democrats Sharon Bronson, Ramón Valadez and Richard Elías agreed to a 1% across-the-board cut for all county departments.
Bronson made the proposal shortly after it became clear that a number of budget cuts suggested Miller over the last month either did not have enough support to move forward or were withdrawn by Miller.
It wasn’t clear Tuesday afternoon how various parts of the county will handle the cuts.
The cuts will be limited to the county’s unrestricted $616 million general fund, Chief Deputy County Administrator Jan Lesher said Tuesday afternoon. One estimate suggests that collectively, county departments will cut roughly $3.6 million out of their budgets.
During the meeting, the county staff said specific revenue funds could not subject to the 1% cut. For example, the county’s $160 million regional wastewater enterprise fund would not be affected, as the revenues collected in sewer fees must be spent on wastewater operations.
Pima County Sheriff Mark Napier declined to comment on Tuesday afternoon, saying he was out of town and was not familiar with the budget decision by the supervisors.
The Pima County Sheriff’s Department is the single largest department in the county budget, with officials initially seeking a budget of roughly $160 million for the current fiscal cycle.
While the Democrats on the board signed off on the cuts, they did not agree to lower the county property tax rate, allowing the rate proposed by the County Administrator Chuck Huckelberry earlier this year stay in place.
The money saved by the 1% cuts will be set aside for a year-end fund balance, allowing the county to fund more projects without having to borrow funding.
Supervisors are backing pay-as-you-go funding models for new capital projects, shying away from asking voters to bond for projects or issuing new certificates of participation.
