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Last week the communities of Holbrook and Joseph City played host to town halls that informed the public regarding Proposition 421, the Jail District tax that will be on the Aug. 27 ballot.
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The meeting in Holbrook was held on July 24 with 20 people in attendance, including four people presenting on behalf of the county. The Joseph City meeting was held the following day with 14 people in attendance with two of those presenting.
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At both gatherings, the presentation from the county outlined the purpose of requesting the proposition and the outcomes depending upon whether or not it should pass.
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The proposed tax would place a one-third of one cent tax upon all non-grocery purchases of goods in Navajo County. Grocery purchases would be exempt from the tax, and generally defined as all food purchases except ready-to-eat foods. The tax is estimated to bring in more than $2.5 million each year to offset the loss of revenues.
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The county has presented the proposition as a funding mechanism that will offset the anticipated revenue losses due to the impending closures of the Cholla Power Plant in Joseph City and the Navajo Generating Station (NGS) in Page. While NGS is located within Coconino County, the power plant employs Navajo County residents and uses coal provided by the Peabody Mine in Kayenta, which is in Navajo County. As a result of the NGS closure, Peabody Mine is closing as well, meaning the loss of 300 jobs.
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At both meetings, County Manager Glenn Kephart sought to dispense rumors of what funds generated from tax would be used for.
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“This would be one penny on $3, or 33 cents on $100. That goes to fund the jail operations, but what it does is it allows the money that we (the county) put towards the jail to come back into the general fund so we can maintain services where they currently are,” Kephart added that the county has already gone through significant reductions since 2008 cutting the workforce by 16 percent over that time period, as well as reduced spending overall.
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According to Kephart, in order to live within its means, the county can either cut staff, meaning a loss of jobs and services, or create a Jail District with the tax that would allow services to remain at its current state.
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It was noted that the county has reduced this fiscal year’s budget by $1.2 million, which included a reduction of seven detention officers and deputies’ positions that went into effect this month in the Sheriff’s Office.
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At the Holbrook meeting, Sheriff David Clouse noted that he has heard of the confusion from the public wanting to know if a new jail will be built or if the funds are a profit center for the Sheriff’s Office. “This is not a new jail for the Sheriff’s Office. We have a facility here and it meets our needs.”
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He went on to state that even though his staff was reduced, the calls for service have increased over the past two years. “The county has seen some growth so we’re seeing more calls for service but next year we will have to cut seven more positions.”
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With the passage of the tax, the county would no longer be paid money from the municipalities to pay inmate booking fees. Without the tax, those fees would increase and cities would also incur the medical costs of inmates incarcerated from their communities.
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Holbrook resident Frank Lucero, who serves on the Navajo County Community College Board, asked, “The money you supplant will be used where? Because it’s my understanding that it’s all going to be used to keep Show Low going. Is there any guarantee that the tax money will stay in the area that it was raised?”
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Kephart replied by stating the funds would be used to allow departments across the county to maintain all services and keep the current employees.
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County Attorney Brad Carlyon addressed those present in Holbrook stating that he has gone from 17 prosecutors to 12 in his department already. “I can’t fill all 12 positions because my starting salary is 20 percent lower than the next lowest county, Greenlee County. I have the highest caseloads in the state and the lowest pay in the state and it will get worse.” He went on to explain that his current case load per attorney is 85 cases and that without the tax, his staff would be cut further and that would mean he would have to decide which cases to prosecute.
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“So then my question is, which guys don’t I charge anymore? Which guys do I not put in the jail? Which guys are on the street causing havoc for your community members because they can’t get treatment or help?” queried Carlyon.
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He also stated that most of the inmates in the jail are locals, with 60 to 80 percent of those struggling with mental health issues. “Unless we have the money for treatment they are going to continue to cycle back around.”
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Holbrook Councilman Adam Marsh also spoke stating, “This is something that affects Holbrook’s day-to-day operations. The city will be saving approximately $184,000 per year with approval of this proposition of the voters, nearly $4 million over 20 years. That’s a significant amount of money for Holbrook.
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“We need to continue to invest in our infrastructure and if we don’t have money in the city budget, then we can’t do that. This is an opportunity where we can keep money in the city budget without waving goodbye to it under these circumstances,” stated Marsh. He continued, referring to job cuts, “These are our neighbors, people we all care about. These people who live in the county, in this city, and are paying property tax and sales tax and contribute in other needful ways. This tax would put money into the city by keeping people here. This is a realistic and justifiable expense for our community.”
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Randy Murph, a Perkins Valley resident who also sits on the Navajo County Planning and Zoning Commission, expressed concerns regarding the past use of voter approved funds. He noted that a number of years ago citizens approved increased funding to allow for county employees to receive higher pay but that with the recession a portion of those funds were diverted by the county for other needs. “I think the county should budget with what they have,” he stated. He also expressed concerns that additional taxes would deter future business investors.
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Carlyon stated that the county property taxes are among the lowest in the state and that it’s not just taxes that dictates those decisions. “We’re working on economic development,” stated Carlyon, referring to the opportunities in the Holbrook Basin with the potential for oil, potash and helium development.
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Mike Sample, a Holbrook resident and president of the Navajo County Fair Board spoke up, stating, “If this doesn’t pass and we have to make cuts, there are fees that the City of Holbrook is going to have to pay. Obviously, the city is going to have to pass those fees onto the citizens of Holbrook. As a resident of Holbrook, I would rather have tourists on Interstate 40 or tourists coming from Phoenix up through Show Low having to pay for that tax rather than Holbrook having to be taxed or put those fees on its own residents.”
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Carlyon agreed and continued, “The biggest fees would be the higher jail fees and more importantly, the one you can’t budget for, is medical costs of inmates. I’m no longer going to do your municipal misdemeanors. I won’t have the people to do them anymore. You’ll have to get a magistrate, you’ll have to hire your own prosecutor, you’ll have to hire your defense attorney, your own staff for victims’ services notifications. You’ll have to ask the state to do your testing for blood breathe and other things. The cost is pretty high,” noted Carlyon.
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Lucero stated that his concern was that the county needed to live within its means, to which Kephart replied that they will regardless of the results. Meaning that if the tax does not pass, jobs will be lost and tasks spread across fewer employees. If the tax does pass, the services will remain as they are currently.
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Holbrook resident and realtor Yvonne Larson also spoke to the loss of residents should jobs be cut, affecting money being spent in the city and taxes collected. “This could hurt us more than if we paid the tax.”
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Murph expressed his concern regarding the county offices’ expansion, with satellite offices throughout the county, including the reservation. “I understand that it’s convenient for people that live in Show Low but it’s expensive. Back when things were good, the county seat was the county seat and that’s where you went. You didn’t have a shuttle to bring you to work,” he stated, asking what the county was going to do to keep itself in check. “Why don’t you bring back the county seat to the county seat instead of having all these expenses. It costs building and grounds hundreds of thousands of dollars to drive to Kayenta to unplug the sewer and related things. It costs I don’t know how much, to go to Heber and Show Low. To the taxpayers as a whole that’s an expensive venture just for the convenience of people who choose not to live in the county seat. I can’t imagine how many millions of dollars that would save.”
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Kephart responded by stating that while there were no plans for expansion, that they did have a responsibility to provide services countywide but that the county seat will remain in Holbrook along with a majority of the services.
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Kephart explained how the cuts would impact other areas such as county schools. He stated that the schools’ payroll is processed through the County Treasurer’s Office and with cuts to that department, payout would be delayed. In order to ensure that payroll is met, schools would need to open a line of credit at a local bank but would also have to pay fees and the potential interest that comes from utilizing that line of credit.
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At the Joseph City meeting, Navajo County Chief Deputy Randy Moffett addressing those in attendance speaking regarding the Sheriff’s Office. “We are doing more and more services for less. We are an open book and I have tapped every grant resource I can,” stated Moffett. “This is the most responsible agency I’ve dealt with in keeping track of money and keeping track of funding; making sure it’s not wasted.”
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Rather than cuts Moffett is hoping to maintain services and provide programs to reduce recidivism in the jails to help individuals rather than incarcerate them. “That’s hard for me to say because I was a drug cop and my solution for a long time was put everybody in jail and let the judges sort it out in the end. I have changed my vision. Fifteen years of putting people in jail and just throwing it away and not watching the system work. Something’s got to change,” he said adding, the answer is not always incarceration.
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JR DeSpain, who serves on the Navajo County Fair Board also spoke, stating that his concern was that if the county was not in financially good shape, the contribution to the county fair would likely go away as it was not a state mandated service. “We depend heavily on the contribution from the county,” he noted.
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Kephart stated that DeSpain was correct that funding for the fair was not a mandated service and also expressed his concern that such a valuable asset as the fair may be affected by funding shortages. He talked of the value provided by activities at the fair and the experience of being a part of such an event. “The kids are learning that they belong to a community. A real place. Don’t our kids need that even more today as they face real challenges? Having that fair is one of the most important things we do as a county. This is one of the challenges that we have.”
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The impacts to the various departments should the Jail District tax not pass include:
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* Planning & Zoning could double the time it takes for services with a removal of services in Heber/Overgaard and code enforcement.
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* The Recorder’s Office would no longer provide next day recordings and copies, instead it would take a week.
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* The Assessor’s Office would no longer provide property changes in one week, projecting it would take four to six weeks. New construction assessments could be delayed up to a year.
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* The Treasurer’s Office would go from three to four weeks of posting payments to eight to 10 weeks. With week’s delay in all other services.
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* Elections would no longer have satellite and early voting sites. There would be fewer poll workers and special districts would have to conduct their own elections.
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* The Sheriff’s Office would not be able to provide backup at night or 24-hour coverage in unincorporated areas. There would also be less of a presence at schools.
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* Changes at the Health District would include animal control services provided only during business hours. A reduction in food safety inspections from 85 percent to 15 percent each year with a focus on completing complaint investigations. Infectious disease investigations would be cut nearly in half with investigation beginning with one to two weeks instead of 24 hours. There would be no flu shot clinics and vaccinations would be cut in half.
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* For the County Attorney’s Office, case loads would change from 85 per prosecutor to 100. The office would no longer be able to partner with municipalities and the department would no longer be able to provide intervention programs.
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