Cochise County treasurer seeks to hold budget steady, flags staffing and software costs

Rebecca Trawick, Cochise County treasurer, told the Board of Supervisors at a work session April 14 that she will largely keep her office's budget unchanged while pressing to fill staff vacancies and manage subscriptions and lease costs.

Trawick said she is not requesting an increase to her department's overall bottom line and prefers a conservative approach to spending so the office can respond if a catastrophic need arises. "I generally don't spend big money," she said, adding that she wants enough "ability to take care of it" if an emergency occurs.

Trawick told supervisors her office is trying to hire two account clerks and has restructured an administrative position into part time. The new hire will handle "mostly our budget interactions" and purchase orders, she said. She described continued difficulty recruiting staff since COVID and said she enforces an in-office attendance and phone-use policy for counter staff.

On operating costs, Trawick identified several recurring lines: an "operating leases and rental" item for $5,200 and an "office equipment operating lease" of about $5,500; she said the larger professional-services line covers title searches and related work tied to hundreds of transactions annually. Trawick also noted postage as a cost the office cannot control and that increases there affect the budget.

Trawick said the county moved the accounting for state tax-deed auction proceeds out of the treasurer's general operating line last year so the money can be tracked and distributed to the taxing districts that were previously not paid their share. "For decades, it has not happened. And so we finally got this straightened around last year," she said, describing a process that subtracts auction and advertising costs and then allocates remaining proceeds by parcel and tax distribution chart.

She discussed procurement used for auctions and lien sales, contrasting Public Surplus's buyer and seller fees with GovEase, which she said charges only a buyer fee and reduces direct costs to her office. Trawick also said the office recently purchased 11 state-contract HP laser printers for about $2,000 total and that some subscriptions (including an electronic payment batching service) are recorded as operating leases under GASB guidance.

Trawick said she and her staff are preparing the office for her departure at the end of her term and training a prospective successor, Jesse Valenzuela, to handle operations and statutory requirements. She concluded by thanking the board for what she called a constructive working relationship and said the treasurer's office will continue its current approach to spending and internal controls.

The board recessed to a later meeting with public works after the discussion.