From the June 6, 2001 edition of the AJ News http://www.ajnews.com/

County Budget Includes New Courthouse

Budget set at $175 million, county’s bond rating upgraded, property tax rate holds at $4.45

By Lanie Bethka

The News

FLORENCE- The Pinal County Board of Supervisors has set a tentative budget for fiscal year 2001-2002 with total expenditures of $175.1 million, a 23% increase from last year’s $134.8 million budget.

As part of the new budget, the county will be required to raise $33 million to build a new courthouse to accommodate the additional superior court judges required by state statute.

The state uses a formula based on the county’s population to determine how many superior court divisions are required. County officials estimate that, based on the current population growth rate, Pinal County will need to accommodate 10 superior court divisions in the next ten years. Currently the county has six superior court divisions, which must now increase to seven to comply with state statutes.

The current county court facilities are "bursting at the seams", officials say, with no courtroom or office space for a seventh superior court judge. Added to the new court divisions are more grand jury sessions, foster care hearings, and numerous other court functions which require space.

The courthouse will be sited on the northeast side of Florence in front of the Pinal County Adult Detention Center. The plans call for a secure connection to the county jail so inmates will never leave a secured area. Currently inmates must be transported across town to the old courthouse.

The county awarded the design contract to the Durrant Architectural firm who plans to complete the design process by November. The county expects to let the bids by the end of December and break ground in March, 2002. The facility is expected to be completed by the end of 2002.

The county plans to offer Series 2001 Certificates of Participation to investors in order to raise the $32 million for construction. The offering has been made much more attractive by a notice of a bond rating upgrade. According to Pinal County Public Information Officer Joe Pyritz, the county was recently notified by Standard and Poor and FITCH that they have upgraded the county’s bond rating from BBB to an A-.

Mark Reader, a managing director for the Capitol Markets Group of Peacock, Hislop, Staley & Given, Inc., congratulated county officials and said, "It’s very rare to get a ratings upgrade anymore, much less two bumps in your rating. This should make your 2001 Certificates of Participation very attractive to investors."

With the improved bond rating, the county will no longer be required to place a $100,000 policy premium on the soon-to-be-issued Certificates of Participation as a debt reserve fund. Pinal County Manager Dr. Stanley Griffis told the Board of Supervisors that the upgrade should save the county more than $445,000 annually.

Since 1990, the county budget has almost doubled, growing from $89.7 million to the currently projected $175.1 million. According to District One Supervisor Sandie Smith, much of the increase has come about because of the 54.4 percent increase in county population which grew from 116,329 in 1990 to 179,727 in 2000.

The Board of Supervisors pointed out that the primary tax rate will not increase this year. They have held the primary tax rate in a range from $4.10 to $4.90 per $100 of assessed value since 1984. They also pointed out that this is below the state-imposed levy limit, which could be as high as $8.4085. The proposed rate for 2001-2002 is $4.45, which is the highest primary rate among Arizona’s 15 counties.

Pinal County’s property valuation has increased every year right along with the real estate market. According the County Assessor’s office the county is broken down into market areas with valuations that reflect land plus any improvements in that particular area. Because of state statutes governing the valuation process, property valuations are approximately two years behind current real estate market value. None the less, valuations in Pinal County have increased approximately 8% every year for the past 10 years. According to Dr. Griffis, property valuation increased $61 million this year.

Pinal County breaks its annual budget expenditures into seven major service areas which include (listed in order of budget share with the largest listed first) Health, General Government, Public Safety, Highways and Streets, Culture and Recreation, Welfare and Sanitation. They break their budget revenues into seven major revenue sources which include (also listed in order of budget share with the largest listed first) Intergovernmental funds, property taxes, miscellaneous, other taxes, charges for services, licenses and permits, and fines and forfeits. The exact dollar amounts and percentage break-outs are not yet available from the county.

Deputy County Manager Terry Doolittle told The News that county officials will continue to tweak the tentative budget until the final version is presented to the Board of Supervisors at their August 8 meeting. He explained that budget numbers could be decreased but they could not be increased over the amount approved in the tentative budget.