A report that state budget cuts will delay rehabilitation of the Winslow levee is not entirely accurate, according to Navajo County Manager Jimmy Jayne.
“The levee is still moving forward. It’s not slowing,” Jayne said.
The county does have plans to use funds from the special flood control taxing district to balance the budget for the upcoming fiscal year, though. Jayne noted that the $1 million estimate is an overstatement, but some of the funds will be shifted from the district to the general fund budget.
“The legislature has given us authority to use secondary district funds to balance the budget because of legislative impacts,” he said.
State cost shifts continue to reduce the county’s operating budget. Direct cuts to major funds such as Highway User Revenue Funds (HURF) not only reduce the amount the county has available to provide services, but cost shifts such as requiring the county to pay for juveniles housed in state detention facilities have put a strain on the budget.
Shifting the funds from the flood district does not mean that the Winslow levee will be shortchanged, however, Jayne noted. He explained that the county is looking at other ways to come up with the money and that the project is high priority.
“The county is still putting 100 percent of its energy toward completing the levee,” he said.
According to Jayne, the local match of the cost of rehabilitating the levee has been set aside for several years, but the county has had to dip into those funds to meet other needs. He noted that the county does have other options for meeting the financial obligation and the City of Winslow has agreed to add funds to the local contribution.
“We’re going to have to decide how to come up with the county match since we are using some flood control district dollars to balance the budget,” Jayne remarked. “But it will be done. We are working hand in glove with the corps (U.S. Army Corps of Engineers) to get it done as expeditiously as possible.”
Jayne further noted, “If the legislature will stop taking dollars from us we can more accurately plan that funding moving forward.”
In late March the Navajo County Board of Supervisors approved a $66.2 million plan to rehabilitate the levee. The plan was selected from a total of six options for its benefit-to-cost ratio and because it will provide protection along the most essential portions of the levee. The six plans presented to the board ranged in cost from $93.7 million to $19.1 million. The plan chosen is one of three that included major rebuilding of the levee, and of those options was the least expensive, but also offered the most return for the money spent.
The county expects to contribute about 35 percent of the cost, for about $2.5 million in design costs and $20.6 million in construction costs. Federal funds will cover the remaining 65 percent of design and construction costs. County officials are working with the City of Winslow on a plan for the city to add $10 million to the local contribution.
To date, the feasibility study on the levee is nearly complete and a report on that study is due to be submitted to Congress in June 2016. Design work on the selected plan is also expected to start in early 2016 and should take two to four years. Once design work is complete, construction can finally begin.
