Greenlee County adopts $50.06 million 2026–27 budget, sets property and district tax rates

The Greenlee County Board of Supervisors on a voice vote adopted the fiscal year 2026–27 final budget and approved the county's primary and district tax rates after a staff presentation on revenue performance and spending priorities.

County staff presented a budget that the board described as a mirror of the previously released tentative budget, with a strengthened capital improvement program financed in part by shifted federally sourced dollars. "This last step of adopting the final budget locks us in. We do not have the authority to up our budget at this stage," said Derek Rapier, who led the presentation and outlined the multi-month process and statutory requirements.

Rapier highlighted stronger-than-expected shared sales tax receipts this year and a conservative projection for the coming year. He said the county raised its state sales-tax projection by 10% but retained conservative revenue assumptions overall. "Overall, we're 31.29% above projection, and the trend is on the way up," Rapier said, referencing recent June figures for shared sales tax.

The presentation also emphasized a larger capital improvement budget that pulls in available cash and federal dollars to complete ongoing projects without sacrificing core county services. Rapier described an unassigned fund-balance policy that preserves $4 million of a $5 million budget stability fund; the policy restricts accessing the reserve until monthly revenue drops below a $400,000 threshold and triggers finance-department review.

On personnel and operating costs, Rapier said law enforcement and related jail costs make up about 27% of county spending, while public works and similar services represent roughly 48%. Health-care costs in the budget increased by 8.3% following adjustments to prescription-drug coverage; Rapier said further increases are likely next year.

The board moved, seconded and approved a series of motions to set: the fiscal year 2026–27 primary property tax rate at 0.8967 per $100 of assessed value; the public health services district tax rate at 0.2500 per $100; and the flood control district tax rate at 0.1924 per $100. The board then voted to adopt the county's final budgets, which were read into the record as a general fund budget of $21,489,000 and a total budget of $50,060,108 (including a $1,951,216 flood control budget and a $3,094,623 public health services district budget).

The motions were taken by voice vote and passed without recorded dissent. The board had opened a public hearing on the budget earlier in the meeting; no comments were recorded during that hearing.

Board members and staff stressed ongoing fiscal caution despite recent revenue gains. Rapier said the county has used federal funds from COVID relief for capital projects and has prioritized paying down actuarial pension liabilities with cash rather than issuing pension bonds. "We did this with cash, not additional debt," Rapier said, describing pension funding progress.

The board concluded the special budget session, reconvened the regular meeting, and thanked staff including Renee and Austin for preparing budget materials. The adopted budget and tax rate resolutions will be posted to the county website and recorded as the official fiscal 2026'27 budget documents.