County supervisors delay vote on final budget
The Yuma County Board of Supervisors will not approve the final $246 million budget for fiscal 2017-18 Monday as scheduled, delaying the vote for a week due to changes made in the notice for the Truth in Taxation hearing, which is required by state law to be held on the same day.
The Truth in Taxation notice and hearing is intended to notify residents of an impending increase in property tax collections, taking into account any increase in the actual tax rates and whether property values are generally going up or down, but leaving out any new construction that hasn’t been taxed before.
After Yuma County published its first notice June 2, the Arizona Tax Research Association — which was instrumental in drafting the legislation and getting it passed — said the county had not used the right property valuations to calculate its expected increase, county Chief Financial Officer Scott Holt said.
He said ATRA’s calculations added about $13,000 to the projected increase in county property tax collections, to $916,000. Though the group is not a government agency and has no enforcement power, Holt said officials decided to re-advertise the Truth in Taxation hearing with ATRA’s numbers instead of risking a legal fight later on.
The second notice was posted June 11, and under state law the Truth In Taxation hearing must be advertised for at least 14 days before the hearing is held and the budget adopted, so that can’t happen now until June 26, when the board will hold a special meeting.
“We re-posted the numbers to comply with ATRA because at this particular point, I’m not going to fight with them. That’s their interpretation, and they’re the ones who wrote it so we’ll yield to them, and henceforth, we will do it the way they want it to be done,” he said.
He said all of the other tax and budget numbers will be the same, the calculation of this increase will be the only change.
Monday’s meeting will begin at 9 a.m. in the Board of Supervisors’ auditorium, 198 S. Main St. Other agenda items include:
• A $1.6 million agreement between the health district and Horizon Health and Wellness for Title 36 mental health services in the county for the upcoming fiscal year.
• A request to fund the $116,000 local matching portion of a grant from the COPS Hiring Program to allow the sheriff’s office to hire four more full-time deputies.
• Approval of the county housing department’s fiscal 2017-18 operating budget of $1.2 million and section 8 housing voucher program of $3 million.
• A public hearing on and adoption of an increase of the Justice Court Enhancement Fee from $20 up to $40.
• A public hearing to address any protests for formation of an improvement district for the Sun Leisure Estates water system, and then create the district.
• Work sessions about the Yuma Regional Development Plan and county policy on parks will be held after the regular meeting.
The meeting will be broadcast on the county’s cable channel, Yuma77, and webcast and available for later viewing at www. yumacountyaz.gov.