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NAVAJO COUNTY — The question of reintroducing the Jail District Tax to the voters in November was raised at the Navajo County Board of Supervisors meeting on Jan. 8, after the grim realities of what the county is facing over the next five years was addressed by Assistant County Manager Bryan Layton.
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“If we do nothing, at the end of five years we would be in the negative by $14 million,” shared Layton. “Obviously, that cannot happen as we are required to have a balanced budget, but this is to emphasize that we need to think globally about what we are facing. There is no more low hanging fruit as far as reductions.”
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Continuing in his presentation Layton said, “Right now we are looking at a loss of $1.5 million for the 2020 budget with an additional loss of $2 million for the 2021 budget. We have the threat of losing coal power generated revenues through sales tax and property tax, but that isn’t our only financial threat. Our range of loss can be as low as $2.6 million to as high as $5.2 million.”
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Beyond the loss of the coal revenues, Layton detailed out other losses that included the increase in the state retirement systems the county is required to pay into, the impact of minimum wage and the uncertain revenues created by the Sheriff’s Office through the federal inmate programs.
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“Through flexibility language, we took $1 million from Flood Control in the past but that is not sustainable,” said Layton. “We also had a one-time relief from the state for this year, however, it was one-time so we will have to return to the state, share our concerns and ask for partnership.”
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On a positive note, Layton said, “One thing working in our favor is the strong state economy. Shared sales taxes have been up and this allows us some maneuverability.”
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Layton said that administration is looking to reduce four positions, which would require shifting roles and responsibilities to existing staff. By reorganizing the Wellness Budget, more duties could be assigned to the Human Resource Technician. A Board of Supervisors secretary could take on the duties related to the Highway Users Revenue Fund program. These changes would save approximately $100,000 per year.
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An additional idea includes the proposal of eliminating the Legal Defender’s Office. “We could take those folks and move them into the Public Defender’s office so that office would be fully staffed,” noted Layton. “At that point we would translate our contract attorneys from a per case basis to an annual basis.”
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For public safety, the Sheriff’s Office has been analyzing their staffing level vacancies. Jail fees and inmate medical costs will have to be put on the cities and towns. “We are bearing too much of the cost of that and the Sheriff has said he will not be able to provide prisoner transport to the justice courts anymore,” continued Layton. “So we will need to look at ways we can augment the abilities of the judges to access the prisoners maybe through video conferencing, hearings over videos and times here at the superior courts where the judges can come onsite.”
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Other ideas under consideration include creating a consolidated front desk area, where a smaller number of employees can support a large number of departments and create a one-stop place for residents and customers; and a four-day week with 10-hour days.
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Layton concluded, “At the end of the day we are losing a lot of resources so we will not be able to provide all the services at the current level. Collaboration is the key and patience is needed at this time.”
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Supervisor Jesse Thompson shared, “This is a similar experience that we went through a few years ago. The staff and employees stepped up by reducing their salary by two percent but now it is way different. We have relied on creating a jail district and that idea is still out there. Maybe we should give the public an opportunity to review it again.”
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Layton said that if the county elected to ask the public again regarding the formation of the jail district, there is still time to do that.
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County Attorney Brad Carlyon said that in the legal analysis done by his office, he believes that the Navajo County Board of Supervisors can bring this back to the voters in 2019.
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Thompson requested that the county staff look into this and bring it to the next meeting. “We need to give the public as stakeholders in this county an opportunity to look at this again.”
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County Manager Glenn Kephart noted that the Jail District Proposition failed by 162 votes, “It was almost a virtual tie throughout the county, evenly divided down the middle.”
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Vice Chairman Jason Whiting said, “I would be interested in what you propose the outreach would be to educate the public. Can the verbage on the ballot be different? It seemed to many voters that we were looking to build a new jail.”
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Chairwoman Dawnafe Whitesinger said, “I would like to see what that initiative going back out to the voters would look like. I know we have relied heavily on our partnerships. When we look at the budget it is more than just the employees, each of the communities will feel some kind of impact.”
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In other business, the board:
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* Approved the appointment of Natalie Stobs to the Northeastern Arizona Local Workforce Development Board to fill a vacant Apache County business seat. The appointment will be in effect through July 1, 2021.
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* Approved the Northeastern Arizona Workforce Development Plan modification.
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* Approved the revised fee schedule for the Assessor’s Office to take effect Jan. 1, 2019.
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* Approved 21 back tax land parcels sold over the counter in the amount of $7,154 including Assessor Parcel Numbers: 105-55-044; 105-55-045; 105-53-355; 105-58-249; 105-59-381; 105-61-129; 105-59-177; 105-59-111; 105-58-021; 105-56-433; 104-23-004G; 105-65-428; 105-65-227; 105-65-193; 105-65-173; 105-65-007; 105-64-413; 105-63-312; 105-62-403; 105-62-402 and 105-62-173.
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* Approved the reissuance of stale-dated checks to Kim Dsouza in the amount of $68.27 and Charles Sword in the amount of $2,157.74. Due to the fact the original checks were voided there is no fiscal impact to the county.
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* Approved the 2019 Board Committee appointments.
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* Approved the amendment mutually extending the existing contract for uniform rental and laundering services for the Public Works Department from Feb. 16, 2019, to Feb. 15, 2020.
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* Authorized the County Manager to send notification of intent to cancel current indigent defense contracts with outside attorneys and transition to a new annual contract model for these services. The intent of this change is to transition contract indigent defense attorneys from a per case basis to an annual contract basis.
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*Approved an Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) between Navajo County Public Health Services District (NCPHS) and Arizona Department of Health Services (ADHS) to perform child death reviews for Navajo and Apache counties from July 1, 2018, through June 30, 2023. This contract provides $15,000 annually to NCPHS to review the deaths of all children residing in the two counties who die before the age of 18 and determine the level of preventability. The information will be used to formulate prevention and community strategies.
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* Approved an IGA with ADHS to perform sexually transmitted disease (STD) prevention, testing, counseling and surveillance activities throughout Navajo County effective Jan. 1, 2019, through Dec. 31, 2023. This IGA provides $9,375 annually to NCPHSD toward expenses associated with performing state mandated STD surveillance activities.
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* Approved the 2018 Wildland Fire Hazardous Fuel – Cooperative Forestry Hazardous Fuels Program grant agreement with the Arizona Department of Forestry and Fire Management. With the funding of this grant, Navajo County will partner with private homeowners to mitigate the wildland fire danger by providing funding for evaluation of fire hazard, treatment of property and fire-wise education. Homeowners are required to provide a 10 percent cost share match.
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* Approved the formation of the Northeastern Arizona Community Resource Network as a 501(c)3 nonprofit that will operate through Navajo County.
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* Authorized the Northeastern Arizona Local Workforce Development Board (NE AZ LWDB) to enter into lease negotiations with the City of Show Low for a portion of the building located at 760 E. McNeil in Show Low.
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* Authorized the NE AZ LWDB, in partnership with Northern Arizona Council of Government Community Services Administration, to apply for Community Service Block Grant funding in the amount of $50,000 for the building rehabilitation at 760 E. McNeil.
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The next meeting of the board will be at 9 a.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 22, at the Navajo County Complex in Holbrook.
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