Cochise County supervisors pull electric franchise from consent agenda, flag benefit rate increases and courts, elections items for discussion
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Summary
At a Feb. 19 work session, Cochise County supervisors agreed to remove an electric franchise agreement from the consent agenda for further review, were briefed on a state pass-through grant for traffic cameras, and previewed a benefit-premium increase that would raise employee and county contributions.
Cochise County supervisors met in a Feb. 19 work session to preview Tuesday’s regular board meeting and to flag several items for fuller discussion, including removal of an electric franchise from the consent agenda, an 8% rise in employee benefit premiums and concerns about court caseloads and election-related legislation.
Supervisor (unnamed; first speaker) opened the meeting and noted that attachments might be updated after the agenda was published and that public comment would not be taken at the work session. County staff said the regular meeting will include routine consent items (library, flood district) and several items requiring board action or briefing.
The board asked that 'item number 2' — related to an electric-services franchise for Southline Transmission to construct lines using county rights-of-way — be pulled from the consent agenda so it can be debriefed. A county staffer described the franchise as a standard agreement to allow construction in county rights-of-way; multiple supervisors said they wanted more time to review the intergovernmental agreement (IGA) text before final action.
Staff also described a state-pass-through funding arrangement administered by the Arizona Department of Public Safety (DPS) for 'flock' cameras; the funds were described as state-appropriated and passed through DPS, with an amount noted in the discussion of about $125,000. Supervisor (unnamed) said past IGAs sometimes omitted key contract details and asked that the board review the MOU carefully.
Elections and polling: the clerk will present a roster of poll workers for May 19 and the elections director will have authority to substitute workers if necessary. Staff reported no changes to vote-center locations for the upcoming primary and general elections. Supervisors also discussed pending state legislation that would shift precinct-committee appointment authority to legislative-district chairs, a change the County Supervisors Association reportedly opposes.
Employee benefits and county budget: staff previewed Item 10, asking the board to approve benefit premium-rate structures for medical, dental and vision next fiscal year. County staff said overall rates rose roughly 8 percent and that employees would likely face higher contributions; staff also said they hope employer contributions will increase as well. Supervisors discussed FSAs and HSAs and were told eligibility depends on plan selections. The board also heard a broad warning from a supervisor about flat local revenue, inflationary cost pressures and a pension underfunding issue the speaker cited as approximately $38 million.
Courts and workload: supervisors asked for a briefing from court administration about justice-of-the-peace (JP) caseload distributions, moonlighting magistrate functions and whether case reassignments or redistricting could ease uneven workloads. Staff recommended scheduling a work session with court administration and finance and obtaining legal research on Title 11 oversight limits.
Next steps: staff will bring the pulled consent item back for discussion at the regular meeting; the board planned work sessions to follow up on public-records details, court caseloads and rules of parliamentary procedure. The board adjourned and scheduled its regular meeting for Tuesday, Feb. 24 at 10 a.m.
Quotes from the work session included: 'We're gonna have the opportunity on the agenda on Tuesday to talk about your feelings on current events' (Speaker 2) and 'I'm gonna be a little bit more leery of these IGAs now' (Supervisor, speaker 1).
