COCONINO COUNTY — The Coconino County Board of Supervisors tentatively adopted the County’s $276 million Fiscal Year (FY) 2022 budget during its public meeting on June 8. The FY 22 budget includes approximately $28 million from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) specifically for Coconino County, which passed Congress in March. The Treasury Department released preliminary guidelines for eligible uses of the ARPA funds on May 11, 2021. Coconino County will utilize all ARPA funds in alignment with these requirements.
“This budget is incredibly unique. It includes the largest one-time payment from the federal government that Coconino County has ever seen, which also means our process is unique,” commented Chairman of the Board Matt Ryan. “While the Board of Supervisors has held the standard budget hearings, we also heard from departments about additional needs that could be potentially met by the American Rescue Plan Act funding. The final guidance, however, has not been released in-time for us to consider it during the hearings. It is anticipated that the final guidance will be released in late July, therefore specific expenditures will be aligned after receiving this. The Board will undertake a process at that time to consider what can be potentially funded with ARPA funds.”
“We have a great opportunity with the Fiscal Year 22 budget. After we saw a 30% decrease in sales tax during May and June 2020, Coconino County took a very conservative approach to the FY 21 budget. Not only did we see a steep decline in revenue, the County’s expenses grew significantly due to our response to the COVID-19 pandemic, which included sheltering those experiencing housing insecurity who were positive for COVID-19 and offering free COVID-19 testing. Expenses in FY 21 remained high, however, we saw better-than-anticipated revenue. This revenue coupled with the stimulus from the Federal Government has placed Coconino County in a position of strength to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 on our community,” said Vice-Chair Lena Fowler.
The FY 22 budget includes the potential of additional funding through the American Jobs Plan Act, which is being considered by Congress now, and it also includes a robust contingency to address what is expected to be challenging fire and post-wildfire flooding seasons.
A Truth in Taxation hearing will be held on June 24, 2021. The FY 2022 final budget will be considered for adoption June 24, 2021 and the final tax rates will be set August 3, 2021.