Navajo County officials are pushing for a bill to be considered by the state legislature in January that will give local businesses an edge when it comes to competing for county goods and services.

According to County Manager Jimmy Jayne, this is an effort being made by counties to keep local dollars local. “We are working with Yuma County on a bill that will give a five percent weight for bids to local businesses. We believe it’s important, especially in this economy, to keep as much money local as we can,” said Jayne.

Larger companies, mostly in Maricopa County, are usually able to offer goods and services at a lower cost when competing against smaller companies that are unable to purchase larger quantities of goods at lower prices. “When you purchase under contract, the bid will usually go to Maricopa County and we don’t want that. We want the money to stay in our counties,” explained Jayne.

The County Supervisors Association of Arizona is lending its support to the buy local bill in response to the more than 50 percent vote approval from the state’s counties.

“We always try to buy locally, but we have to work within the confines of state law that defines the bid process,” explained Jayne. “There are certain things like vehicles that probably can’t be purchased in volume up here simply because the dealerships can’t sustain that kind of volume, but there will be other goods and services that can.”

Jayne, along with Board of Supervisors Chairman David Tenney, will be promoting the bill in hopes that it will pass through legislature and increase business in Navajo County.

In the Oct. 11 meeting of the Board of Supervisors, the board agreed to move the November board meetings from Nov. 8 and 22, to Nov. 15 and 29 due to the timeline of the redistricting process. The county Redistricting Advisory Committee will meet on Nov. 8 to discuss the recommendation of at least two alternative redistricting plans to the board for the Northland Pioneer College and county districts. The change in meeting dates will allow the board time to consider the recommendations of the committee.

In other business, the board:

* Approved acceptance of the back tax list and the auction to be held at 1 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 25.

* Approved a five-year intergovernmental agreement between the county Public Health Services District and the Arizona Department of Health Services to continue building its public health preparedness programs, mass vaccination/dispensing clinics, MRC (Medical Reserve Corps) volunteer recruitment and educational programs.

* Approved an award of contract for aggregate to Brimhall Sand and Rock and Building Materials Inc., and Hatch Construction and Paving, Inc.

* Approved the notice of completion of work for the Hilltop Drive Improvement District.