15 AZ counties unite against 'irresponsible' budget

STATE LEGISLATURE CONTINUES STUPIDITY

(Globe, March 22, 2011)—Elected officials from each of Arizona’s fifteen counties joined forces this week in vehement opposition to the state budget passed by the State Senate, calling it “an irresponsible attack on county government.”

In a series of letters to state lawmakers and in committee testimony, county officials, including sheriffs, supervisors, county attorneys, treasurers, recorders, and school superintendents decried several provisions of the budget that would shift state costs and responsibilities to counties. These include making counties responsible for:
• Funding the state Motor Vehicle Division ($16.3 million)
• Paying incarceration costs for state prisoners sentenced to less than a year ($55 million)
• Funding the Department of Public Safety (DPS) through a diversion of county road building and maintenance money ($21 million)

The budget’s total impact on county governments is estimated to be $150 million.

In testimony before the Senate Appropriations Committee Wednesday morning, Navajo County Supervisor David Tenney informed lawmakers that the budget would have a catastrophic and unsustainable impact on Arizona’s counties, including their ability to provide law enforcement and criminal justice services.

“There is nothing conservative about putting the state ‘in the black’ by ‘shifting the red’ to counties,” Tenney said. “A shift of state costs to counties does not cut spending; it only shifts those costs to county taxpayers. In fact, some counties may have to increase property taxes to pay for these shifts.”

Gila County Board of Supervisors Chairman Michael Pastor echoed Tenney’s remarks. “Gila County sales taxes alone are down over $1.75 million since 2008, yet the state keeps shifting its responsibilities to us. State lawmakers should pass a balanced budget, but not by burdening local taxpayers.”