Board adopts climate action and county strategic plans; staff to integrate implementation into budget

The Pima County Board of Supervisors adopted two cross-cutting policy documents Tuesday that staff said will steer county operations over the coming years: an augmented Climate Action Plan for County Operations (CAPCO) with a five-year implementation roadmap, and a three-year county strategic plan intended to guide budget priorities and departmental tactics.

CAPCO expands prior county sustainability work to include both mitigation (carbon, energy) and adaptation (extreme heat, wildfire and invasive species). Staff said the plan establishes a county operations greenhouse-gas target (60% below 2021 levels, with a 2050 net-zero aspiration), year-by-year metrics, and a public "Pima Climate Action Now" hub to track progress. The implementation companion details department leads, year-one activities, and high-level cost estimates that will be refined during the budget process.

The strategic plan links board priorities and the county's many existing plans into a single framework that maps tactics to departmental cost centers. Staff said the approach will allow the county to show how specific budgeted programs contribute to board priorities and will allow public-facing dashboards for reporting outcomes.

Both measures passed on 4–1 votes, with Supervisor Christie opposed to both items. Supervisors emphasized the need to integrate CAPCO and the strategic plan into budget-year decisions and asked staff to prioritize multi-benefit investments and provide clearer funding and implementation schedules as budget season proceeds.

What's next: Staff will publish a public climate hub and integrate both plans into departmental budget submissions; the administration and departments will return with costed implementation details in time for the budget cycle.