At the recent Board of Supervisors meeting, the Navajo County Treasurer Kari Lopez presented a comprehensive annual report detailing the county’s financial health for the fiscal year 2023-2024. The report highlighted the county’s tax collections and investments, discussing the county’s overall financial strategy to provide the most benefit to the county’s residents and institutions.
The Treasurer’s Office collected over $90 million in real property taxes during the fiscal year, a strong performance that left just over $2 million in uncollected taxes as of June 30. However, Lopez emphasized that efforts to collect outstanding taxes are ongoing, with the amount of uncollected taxes already reduced to under $1.9 million by the end of July.
In a year marked by economic recovery, Navajo County’s investments have reached unprecedented levels. As of June 30, 2024, the county had over $400 million invested in short-term investments and securities, up significantly from the previous year’s $360 million. These investments yielded an impressive $12 million in interest, a notable increase from the $7.5 million earned in the prior fiscal year.
“We have never made as much interest as we have made in Navajo County that I’m showing you on this graph,” Lopez proudly stated, underscoring the county’s financial strength and the effectiveness of its investment strategy. The Treasurer’s investment approach is guided by a clear set of priorities: “safety before liquidity before yield.” This conservative yet effective strategy has allowed the county to maintain liquidity while maximizing returns, ensuring that funds are available when needed for county operations and special projects.
As Navajo County looks ahead to fiscal year 2024-2025, a budget was passed that did not include an increase in the tax rate for property owners. It does however increase the amount collected by tax payers, because properties in Navajo County are increasing due to lack of housing options and other factors.
During the meeting, the board also approved a proclamation designating August 14, 2024, as Navajo Code Talkers Day, honoring the Navajo men whose unbreakable code played a critical role in the United States’ success during World War II. The proclamation recognizes the immense contributions of these patriots, who used their native language to create an undecipherable code that provided a strategic advantage in the Pacific Theater. With this day, the county urges residents to reflect on and appreciate the sacrifices made by these brave men, who not only protected the lives of countless soldiers but also hastened the end of the war, securing freedom and democracy for future generations. Winslow recently celebrated their first Code Talkers Day since officially making it an official city holiday.
This meeting was also the first regular meeting of the board since the July 30 primary election. Three poll workers spoke during call to the public to address their concerns with the way the election was run. Two of the residents had serious allegations of potential abuse in the way the election was run, saying that at one time a ballot box was potentially able to be compromised when it was handled by one poll worker during transportation. A Show Low resident said she had a list of concerns including that voter information was incorrect on a few of the ballots. She also stated a significant amount of people came to the polls to vote and were told they already had. She also told the board that she believes 30-35% of voters at Indian Wells were told they could not vote on the day of election because they had already voted.
In other business the board:
* Approved an amendment to the statement of work for the contract with Virta Medical at no additional cost to the county.
* Approved an agreement for annual maintenance on county networking equipment with Sentinel Technologies, Inc. for an annual cost of $46,378.
* Approved an extension of contract with Chicanos Por La Causa for adult, youth and dislocated workers services.
* Approved a change to the contract with Barton Engineering for bathroom renovations to standardize the paper towels installed on the project with others used by the county.
* Approved an amendment with eX2 Technology for the fiber optic infrastructure project to give change order authority to the county manager for 2.5% of the system price amount, at no increase in cost to the county.
* Approved allocating $2,500 of Anti-Racketeering Revolving Funds to Show Low Youth Foundation that offers activities to youth to curb drug use.
* Approved checks to property owners who paid too much property taxes as well as remove taxes for properties no longer eligible for property taxes.
* Approved contract extension with JWA Architects, LLC for code enforcement facility design for one additional year.
* Approved amendment to Concho Highway Final Design to increase scope of work and modify plans the additional cost will not exceed $11,940.
* Approved contract extension with Desert Mountain Corporation for delivery and application of magnesium chloride for one additional year.
* Approved contract amendment with Comapp Technologies and Combined Public Communications LLC for additional investigative tools at no additional cost.
* Approved the cancellation of the following school board elections due to lack of candidates: Winslow, Joseph City, Holbrook, Snowflake, Cedar, Blue Ridge, Kayenta, Pinon, and Northern Arizona Vocational Institute of Technology board members for Joseph City, Holbrook, Snowflake, Heber-Overgaard, Show Low and Whiteriver.
* Approved the cancellation of sanitary district board elections for Heber/Overgaard, Joseph City and Pinetop.
* Approved the cancellation of the following fire district board elections: Heber/Overgaard Fire District, Joseph City Fire District, Timber Mesa Fire, Clay Springs/Pinedale Fire District, McLaws Road Fire District, Woodruff Fire District, Sun Valley Fire District, and Pinetop Fire District.
*Approved the cancellation of the domestic water improvement district board elections for Joseph City, Ponderosa, Pinedale Estate, Misty Mountain, Heber, Clay Springs, Porter Creek, Overgaard Townsite, Wonderland Acres, Three-0-Three and Woodruff.
* Approved the reappointment of Paul Rogers to a four-year term on the Navajo County Planning and Zoning Commission.
* Approved a lease agreement between the county’s accommodation district and the probation department, the lease is $3,000 a month.
* Approved adding defendants ExpressScripts, OptumRx, Albertsons, Aurolife Pharma, LLC, Indivior Inc., KVK-Tech Inc., Sun Pharmaceutical and Zydus Pharmaceuticals (USA), Inc. to Navajo County’s complaint in the multi-district opioid ligation pending in the state of Ohio.
* Appointed Robert Riester to the White Mountain Lakes County Recreation Improvement District Board of Directors.
* Approved a liquor license application for Rebekah Barbetta at Wild Woman Saloon and Grill, located at 2381 Highway 260 in Overgaard.
* Approved the 2024-2025 tax rates for all county taxing districts and school districts.
* Approved extinguishing a 30-foot ingress and egress easement over two properties near Highway 260 in Clay Springs.
* Approved an intergovernmental agreement with the Arizona Department of Transportation to develop sidewalk and bicycle paths near Mogollon High School and Capps Elementary School in Heber.
* Approved memorandum of understanding with Bureau of Indian Affairs Navajo Region, Fort Defiance Agency for the funding of culverts for BIA route N9806 at a cost of $70,000, which has already been allocated in the budget.
* Approved contract with JE Fuller Hydrology & Geomorphology for Navajo County ALERT maintenance and improvements for 2024 in the amount of $140,000.
The next meeting of the Navajo County Board of Supervisors will be held at 9 a.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 27, in the board chambers located at 100 E. Code Talkers Drive.
