County Supervisors Association briefs board on data tools, legislative priorities and county impacts

Craig Sullivan, representative of the County Supervisors Association, told the county board the association spent the last year building data tools, tracking state legislation and supporting counties as they respond to budget and policy changes. Sullivan said the association’s research team has compiled roughly 8,000,000 data points into a county database designed to let officials compare property tax rates, special-district types and other county-level metrics. “The database that we've developed has about 8,000,000 data points in it now,” Sullivan said. The association also worked through a long legislative session to limit unfunded shifts to counties and to seek amendments to bills affecting county operations, Sullivan said. “Session went really long this year,” he said, adding that lawmakers focused much of the budget on one-time allocations rather than ongoing funding. Why it matters: County officials that rely on state allocations and statutory responsibilities face near-term uncertainty, Sullivan said, because many state appropriations were one-time and do not address ongoing costs counties bear for courts, probation and other mandated services. Sullivan told board members the association is concentrating on a handful of county priorities at the state level, including pension matters, juvenile dependency funding and probation resources. He said pension reform proposals that would have produced large changes failed during the session, though a smaller change increasing county contributions to a correction officers’ retirement plan passed with a $1 million state allocation. The association will continue to act as a liaison to lawmakers and to convene county staff and elected leaders for briefings, Sullivan said. He described an upcoming policy summit in October and an earlier September meeting for staff and county leaders to vet proposals the association will take to the summit. Sullivan also summarized recent analyses the association has produced for member counties: an indigent defense case study showing county impacts of a state law related to immigration, workforce-migration tracking for law enforcement hires, procurement studies in partnership with the Arizona Board of Regents and reports on county fiscal and court impacts. He said the association is redesigning its website to make data and visualizations easier to access. Board members and staff praised the association’s responsiveness and said they planned to participate in the September and October meetings. Sullivan asked members for issues they want elevated, and flagged items already arriving at the association: wildfire and fire-insurance concerns, short-term rentals in several counties, and questions about open-meeting-law mechanics that some newer officials are encountering. The association also described outreach work after the Santa Cruz County treasurer embezzlement case: the Auditor General received additional funding and new statutory authority to review bank records, Sullivan said, though a separate statutory training requirement did not pass the legislature. Ending: Sullivan closed by inviting additional suggestions for issues counties want the association to pursue and by noting staff who will continue legislative and data work, including Brandon, Penny, Yvonne, Jacob and Caitlin from the association’s team.