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The Mohave County Board of Supervisors will hold a special workshop Monday in its first step to craft the county’s 2008-09 budget usually adopted in August.

County Manager Ron Walker and Finance Director John Timko will discuss the county’s upcoming budget projections and business strategies, as well as the needs from 22 county department heads.

Walker said the recently passed Truth-in-Taxation law, Proposition 101, that limits property tax increases to 2 percent, will have a negative impact on the county residents. The same legislators who seek credit for being tax cutters also add more unfunded mandated county services, he said.

“The realty is that our job is to provide the ever increasing mandated services to a growing population with shrinking revenues,” Walker said. “We are caught in the middle.”

The legal system that includes the sheriff’s office, jail, court system, county attorney’s office and public and legal defender’s office will take 143 percent of the current primary property tax revenue, Walker said.

Timko said Proposition 101 has eliminated $14.9 million in potential public services, with $9.6 million of that for the 2008-09 fiscal year. The county also initiated a hiring freeze last year.

The county will also see an increase in costs from the state mandated Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System, indigent health care and employee health insurance. The county will need to cut $4.8 million to $5.2 million from the past fiscal budget, Timko said.

The property tax rate is also expected to be lowered again for the 2008-09 fiscal year to $1.33 per $100 assessed value on a home. Last year, the rate was $1.53 per $100 assessed value. The property tax rate was lowered to $1.67 per $100 assessed value two years ago, from the $1.75 per $100 assessed value that had been in effect for more than a dozen years before that.

The workshop will also include performances and accomplishments from department heads from 22 county departments. The supervisors will also discuss their goals for the next four years.

District 1 Sup. Pete Byers of Kingman is stepping down after eight years on the board.

Dist. 2 Sup.Tom Sockwell, who is running against former Bullhead City Mayor Diane Vick, said the biggest challenge is to maintain a balanced budget despite Proposition 101.

“It’s like a cancer eating away at the county government,” Sockwell said.

His goals for his district are building a new law and justice center, as well as building a new facility for the sheriff’s office and animal control in Mohave Valley.

The county will also look to sell off county property to help pay for some capital projects.

Capital projects already started include the county jail and an expansion of the Bullhead City library. Future projects include the law and justice center, a county morgue, a new building for the planning and zoning and probation departments, an animal control facility and a new sheriff’s substation for Mohave Valley and Lake Havasu City.

http://www.mohavedailynews.com/articles/2008/04/04/news/local/local1.txt

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