Main library may get new Downtown home; Budgets set for approval in OV, Nogales; & more in local gov't action
Pima County is on the verge of a small property tax to raise money for housing programs; Oro Valley Town Council prepares to raise water rates; Downtown library may move across street & more from local government meetings around Tucson this week:
The Pima County supervisors will vote on whether to increase property taxes by a penny and a half on $100 of assessed valuation, with the idea being to pay for more affordable housing programs.
Supervisor Matt Heinz is pushing the tax. He originally asked for a 3-cent tax increase but rolled it back. He did this, in part, to make sure the overall county tax rate didn't increase next fiscal year.
That rate can't move above what the board set on May 20, when supervisors approved the "tentative budget," which sets the ceiling for tax rates and spending.
By reducing the proposed tax hike, Heinz preserved his ability to keep pushing it now.
Last month, Heinz was on the verge of passing his proposal on a 3-2 vote but new Democratic Supervisor Andrés Cano wanted some semblance of a plan about how to spend the money raised.
So they took a break.
Cano and Heinz agreed to bring the matter back at the next meeting, which is Tuesday. Supervisor Jen Allen was on board with Heinz's housing idea already. So he appears to have the three votes needed.
Meanwhile, Heinz is taking things further, asking for a board policy that would make a 10-year, $250 million affordable housing commitment.
His 1.5-cent tax hike would raise $1.8 million in fiscal year 2026 and $25 million over 10 years.
Meanwhile, County Administrator Jan Lesher has included an item on Tuesday's agenda that outlines the commitment to affordable housing the county has already made and will make over the next 12 months.
Lesher has included in her proposed budget an extra $8.5 million for housing, including $3.5 million realized through cuts and savings elsewhere in the budget.
The Regional Affordable Housing Commission would recommend to the board how to spend it. The Board of Supervisors would have final say.
Lesher does recommend some specific investment, like "gap funding" for rental units, which helps provide developers additional financing in return for keeping rents comparatively low.
Supervisors will vote Tuesday on whether to allow the Pima County Free Library District to buy the old Wells Fargo building at 136 N. Stone Ave., and establish a new main library building.
The new library space will cost $6.2 million. However, the costs to retrofit the building and other capital costs are expected to exceed the purchase price.
A parking garage with more than 200 spaces are part of the package but 87 spaces are made available to tenants in the Pioneer Building next door. The remaining 132 spaces will be available for the library district.
The current Joel D. Valdez Main Library, across the street at 101 N. Stone, is owned by the city but leased to the county. That building, and the parking garage underneath it, needs a whole stack of work to continue to be usable, officials have said.
Supervisors will also get an update on three departments facing budget deficits.
The Pima County Superintendent of Schools Office is $1 million in the red and blames the failure of the Arizona Department of Education to make good on $1.2 million in grants.
Coronavirus pandemic relief money was supposed to pay for various programs and the state was charged with distributing the money to the county superintendent's office.
It has not. So the superintendent is exposed.
Administrators with the Pima County Superior Court, meanwhile, blame additional mandates handed down from the state as to why that department is $316,000 over budget this year.
The courts had to pay for more mental health professionals and hire more interpreters for "lesser-used languages."
Also, an increased number of jury trials has led to $85,000 in unexpected spending.
Administrators expect to make up the deficit with cost trimming.
Finally, the Pima County constables are in the red because new constables elected in the past year require training and equipment.
The good news is that the office is expected to balance the budget by the end of the fiscal year.
The board will vote on whether to send a Pima County Sheriff's Department internal affairs report to the state Attorney General's Office.
The report stems from an alleged 2022 sexual assault by one deputy against another. The incident happened during a party.
In December, a jury found former deputy Ricardo "Ricky" Garcia guilty of one count of attempted sexual assault. The former sex crimes detective was sentenced to a year in the Pima County Jail.
A new deputies union rose to the defense of the victim and asked for an Attorney General's Office investigation into how the allegation was handled by the Sheriff's Department. The supervisors agreed and asked for the formal inquiry.
The state found "no laws were broken" but did find problems with how the department conducted the probe based on its own policies.
An internal affairs investigation is now complete, and supervisors will decide whether to forward the report to Phoenix.
Supervisor Jen Allen will ask the board to take a highly symbolic vote against "militarizing the border."
Allen has been a long-time immigrants' rights activist. Cool. That's the Lord's work.
But the border has been "militarized" for years. Arizona governors of both parties have been sending National Guard troops to the U.S.-Mexico line since the early 2000s. Hell, Gen. John J. "Black Jack" Pershing was pursuing Pancho Villa back in 1913.
What is different now is that the Trump administration has attempted to declare some federal land in Arizona and New Mexico to be part of the Fort Huachuca National Defense Area.
Anyone on the strip of land right along the border would then be guilty of trespassing on the base.
A federal magistrate dismissed charges against 98 migrants cited for trespassing, saying the government failed to prove the defendants knew they were breaking the law.
So, on the one hand, this is a worthy effort. Let history know where the Supes stood.
On the other hand, I'm just not sure that a local Democratic county board can shame President Donald Trump. It might just make him happy and inspire more such actions.
The Tucson City Council will vote on final approval of their 2025-26 budget during a special meeting Tuesday.
The city's $2.4 billion budget comes with $6.6 million in additional revenue, including a small property tax hike.
The city is being defensive with its budget, protecting itself against a possible downturn.
That's understandable, given the wild uncertainty facing the American economy.
One issue the council is really sensitive about is its plan to phase out its $750,000 contribution to the Pima Early Education Program Scholarships.
It's doing this over two years, with a reduction to $250,000 next year before the city pulls out of the plan altogether in fiscal year 2027.
I've made clear my position on this issue and delivered a to-the-point critique. We're talking $750,000 for early ed. It ought to be doable.
I'm going to allow a little equal time here, in part because the Council isn't doing a lot this week.
Councilmembers - Nikki Lee, especially - have been saying they support the early ed program. The city has just been forced into tough decisions.
The Council received more than $120 million in supplemental requests from city departments.
They said "no" to $71 million of those requests.
These requests include money to maintain clean parks, to provide employee recognition for the 9-1-1 staff and buy firefighters' uniforms.
There's $400,000 the city is looking at for spinning up remote 9-1-1 calls during surge times, which Lee calls a priority.
"It's going to have to be a damn good argument as to why something is more important than that before I get behind it," Lee said.
Fair point.
I'm not going to criticize City Manager Tim Thomure for holding the line on supplemental requests, other than to say that city managers typically take that line. In fact, I could criticize Lesher for failing to be as obstinate.
There's merit to playing the heavy but you can talk yourself out of any program by comparing this to that.
For instance, the city is spending $23.6 million on additional compensation for workers and that's double the current year's investment. So they could spend $22.8 million, still nearly double the increase, and fund PEEPS.
Mayor Regina Romero pointed out during the May 6 meeting that the city alone pays $2.4 million for KIDCO, after school programming.
Again, fair point.
Voters also rejected a $1 million in annual contributions to PEEPS when they turned down Prop. 414 this winter.
Still Romero said the Council and county need to have better communication about these issues.
"How can we complement each other's budgets to make sure that we are providing the necessary investments that our mutual residents deserve," Romero said. "So I will be a no."
I just think they are taking a jurisdictional view of services, rather than thinking first about the people - including a lot of city residents - who use the program.
Here's an idea:
How about a City Council/Pima County Board of Supervisors retreat to discuss how they are going to handle local challenges and what each side can and can't do.
I still hold out hope that the city and county can look at ways to divvy up sales and property tax revenues. That way, the city is in better position to weather downturns and the county is better positioned to take advantage of boom times.
Disclaimer: Most administrators think my idea is downright loopy.
Moving on to the executive session, the Council will meet with city lawyers about how to acquire renewable water supplies at an auction from the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation.
Apparently, some water has come available.
The city's attorneys will also give the city an update on a 2024 Arizona Supreme Court ruling outlawing "release time" for labor union representatives.
The courts ruled paying government employees while they did work on behalf of a union was a "gift clause" violation. The state Constitution forbids taxpayer dollars from being handed to a private individuals, businesses or associations.
The thing is, that the city no longer provides "release time" to any of its four labor unions.
Councilmembers are also ready to establish Stage II fire restrictions, in concert with the Arizona State Forester and Board of Supervisors.
The forester declared the emergency on May 12 and the supervisors followed suit May 20.
Now, the Council is taking action, which would ban fires and "spark-generating activity" on city property. Fireworks would also be banned.
The Tucson Fire Department has responded to 522 brush fires so far this year and that's an 89 percent increase over last year at this time.
Finally, the Council will vote to approve a new general plan.
These plans are required for updates every 10 years.
General plans establish land use designations regarding what would be the preferred use for property. It's not a zoning document, which lays down what can and can't be built on a parcel and what uses are allowed.
Developers (or land speculators) are wise to buy land with a more intense general plan designation than zoning rules. It's easier to get a rezoning when someone can argue the request meshes with the general plan.
Once a piece of property is rezoned to a higher intensity use, its value increases. Buy low. Sell high.
The city is, in fact, planning for some high density redevelopment along major traffic and business corridors throughout Tucson.
In theory, higher density construction is more affordable for the eventual buyer or renter. Don't tell that to developers building rental units near the University of Arizona.
Water bills in Oro Valley look to be going up a little bit. The Town Council will vote Wednesday on a plan to charge a homeowner using 7,000 gallons, on a 5/8-inch water line, an extra $1.81 per month. That works out to a 3.6 percent increase.
The 7,000-gallon figure is the average residential usage per month.
The per-1,000-gallon rate increases with usage from $3.02 all the way up to $12.32. It also depends on the size of the water line.
Those using 7,001 gallons would pay a rate of $5.02 centers per 1,000 gallons. So the structure would encourage conservation.
The water rates are required to fully fund a five-year plan for the Oro Valley water system.
The council will also vote on approving the fiscal year 2025-26 tentative budget and setting a spending limit of $151.5 million.
Town Manager Jeff Wilkins' proposed budget has been changed since first presented to the council, who added an extra $4 million in expenditures.
The town has the money as it is carrying over $44.7 million from the current fiscal year. By comparison, the town's general fund stands at $54.6 million.
Also, Wilkins said the budget is in structural balance. So the town isn't spending that fund balance down at a rate that will deplete it.
Police also got money for raises. The funds were crammed into the budget at the end of the process, which explains at least part of the $727,908 increase over what Wilkins had originally recommended for personnel.
The OV Town Council will also vote on establishing a five-person Tourism Advisory Commission.
Each commissioner will have a three-year term.
The commission would discuss and make recommendations on issues like special events, marketing strategy and how well business is going at resorts and hotels within the town.
In Nogales, the Town Council will also vote on its tentative budget, setting a ceiling of $107.3 million across all funds.
Capital investments will run $4.7 million. By comparison, Oro Valley will spend $44.3 million on capital.
Councilmembers will also get a presentation about "military involvement in Nogales working along the border." Who is providing the presentation and what is meant by "military involvement in Nogales" are not known. No further information was provided.
The Marana Town Council will vote on extending the lease agreement with the Marana Chamber of Commerce on the former Parks and Recreation headquarters, at 13251 N. Lon Adams Road.