Coconino County facilities leaders ask supervisors to protect capital renewal, explain rising utility and construction costs

Facilities Management told the Board of Supervisors on May 14 that higher utility bills, construction price inflation and a tight maintenance budget are forcing the department to ask for targeted one‑time funding and careful prioritization of a recently adopted facilities master plan.

The department’s assistant director, Tara Clifton, and director Tom (last name not specified in the transcript) outlined operations, capital renewal and conservation programs and said the department expects continuing pressure from utility and construction markets. “We implemented WatchWire energy management software this year to understand and analyze our utility usage,” Clifton said, adding the county received a technical assistance voucher from the U.S. Department of Energy to help craft a carbon‑reduction plan. Clifton also said the department completed a county‑wide utility rate impact study to forecast future needs.

Clifton and Tom emphasized capital renewal — the board-approved program that budgets roughly $400,000–$600,000 annually for planned repairs and replacements — and described FY26 requests and one‑time…