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County manager reports strong sales-tax receipts, fairgrounds work and upcoming AI paging tests for dispatch
Summary
Graham County manager reported Aug. revenue trends, fairgrounds parking and concession upgrades, a planned five-year food service contract with Summit, a county fee study, and a near-term test rollout of AI paging in dispatch in cooperation with Honeywell and Motorola.
Graham County Manager Welker updated the Board of Supervisors Sept. 2 on revenue, ongoing fairgrounds projects and planned upgrades to the county’s dispatch system.
Welker said August local sales tax receipts were slightly down from last year but remained among the highest recorded in the county’s 16 years of tracking; state-shared sales tax revenue showed stronger gains, leaving the county about $120,000 ahead of last year through two months of the fiscal year. He said the county is “slightly down” overall through two months but trending better when combining local and state shared receipts.
Fairgrounds and facilities: Welker reported three of four fairgrounds parking lots are mostly finished and the county was installing curbs on a fourth lot, with final grading and emulsion to follow. Work used inmate labor from the Department of Corrections paving crew, and the county plans a small ceremony with DOC after the fair. The concession stand behind the agriculture building received an electrical upgrade to resolve ongoing power problems. The county is out to bid for a new fairground sign and for a pest-control contract.
Contracts and fees: Welker said the county is working on a five-year food service contract with Summit, the current jail food contractor, and is conducting an internal fee study to review county fees that can be adjusted (many fees remain set by Arizona Revised Statute). He said some fee levels had not been updated in 15–25 years.
Dispatch AI paging: Welker said county staff held a kickoff with Honeywell and Motorola for an AI paging system that will create an automated page while a dispatcher is entering caller information; the county expects to begin test mode within a month and hopes to go live in roughly two months. Officials said AI paging is expected to speed notifications to fire departments and other first responders.
Infrastructure projects: Engineering staff are advancing easements for the Tally Wash project after meetings with Freeport; highway crews will begin annual flush-coat work and have been mowing shoulders and alleys countywide.
Welker closed by thanking county staff and elected officials and noting several active projects across departments. The update was informational and required no board action.
