Pima County Supervisors Approve $1.8B Budget, Bonuses for Lowest-Paid Workers

TUCSON — The Pima County Board of Supervisors approved a $1.809 billion final budget for fiscal year 2026-27 on a 4-1 vote Monday, including a last-minute amendment directing $1,000 one-time bonuses for county employees earning $45,000 or less annually. The budget carries an effective primary tax rate of 5.2835 and reflects an 8.7-cent increase over the prior year, driven by board policy requirements for pay-as-you-go capital spending, state cost shifts, and a 3-cent affordable housing levy.

Supervisor Steve Christy cast the lone dissenting vote, repeating his objection that the county is "weighted more towards social services and special programs rather than prioritizing the services the county is supposed to provide." Supervisor Andrés Cano noted that Christy had voted for last year's budget, saying he wanted that on the record. Christy disputed the characterization. Board Chair Jennifer Allen praised the document as "a thoughtful budget that navigates federal cuts and many uncertainties" while protecting the county's 7,000-member workforce. Supervisor Cano argued the budget "invests in the basics — public safety, roads, flood control, public health, heat response, housing, libraries, wastewater, parks, transportation, and cleaner public spaces."

The $1,000-per-employee bonus amendment, introduced by Allen, would benefit approximately 950 full- and part-time regular employees below the $45,000 threshold, with temporary, seasonal, and intern workers excluded. County Administrator Jan Lesher said payments could be processed by mid-August, funded from whatever account staff determines is most appropriate. Supervisor Cano supported the measure but pressed Lesher to return to the board at the first meeting in August with a broader analysis of compensation options for lower-wage workers, including parking costs for downtown employees, HSA contributions, and the projected $4.5 million cost of establishing a $45,000 salary floor. The budget also includes a 3% across-the-board pay increase, the second consecutive year of raises totaling 8% over two years.

The board voted 4-0 to commit $170,000 to preserve adult basic education and GED programming at the Pima County Adult Detention Center after Sheriff Chris Nanos terminated a longstanding contract with Pima Community College effective June 30, a decision that drew sharp criticism from multiple supervisors.

Supervisor Dr. Matt Heinz, who brought the addendum item, said he was surprised to learn Nanos had canceled the contract, noting that inmates face a waitlist to participate in 24 available classroom seats. Laurie Kierstead-Joseph, assistant vice chancellor for adult basic education at Pima Community College, told the board the program served over 240 incarcerated individuals in the past year, administered more than 150 GED sub-tests at an 80% pass rate, and that correctional education saves taxpayers $4 to $5 in incarceration costs for every dollar invested. Supervisor Christy questioned the sheriff's motivation, calling the $170,000 "a decimal point" in a roughly $390 million budget. "Today it's the GED program. Tomorrow it's something else," Christy said. "Something ain't right." The board's final motion — carried 4 yeas with one abstention from Supervisor Rex Scott — directed Lesher to fund continuation of the program from contingency or other available sources and to have staff from the Detainee and Crisis Systems Department, Justice Services, and Community and Workforce Development work with Pima Community College to establish a systemic program aimed at GED completion after release. Any formal contract would require board ratification.

The board voted 4-1 to direct the Pima County Health Department to launch a stakeholder engagement process toward a countywide tobacco retail license ordinance, with Supervisor Christy casting the dissenting vote.

Heinz, who sponsored the item, said the goal is to keep tobacco and nicotine products out of the hands of people under 21. He confirmed the process would include retailers before any ordinance returns to the board for a final vote. Speakers from the American Lung Association, American Heart Association, and American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network all urged the board to adopt a comprehensive licensing framework with annual renewal requirements, graduated penalties, and fees sufficient to fund enforcement. Christy said he opposed the direction — not because he supports underage vaping — but because retailers were not adequately represented, recalling that business owners raised serious concerns when a similar effort failed in 2019. "Don't need a new ordinance," he said, urging colleagues to review the 2019 meeting minutes. Scott said the landscape had changed, noting that the federal Tobacco 21 law was only enacted in 2019 and the FDA required ID checks for purchasers appearing under 30 less than two years ago. Cano said he would be looking closely at parity between unincorporated county areas and incorporated city of Tucson jurisdictions.

The board voted 5-0 to approve a $550,000 contract amendment with the Chamber of Southern Arizona for economic development services, but Chair Allen flagged concerns about delayed reporting, unclear alignment with the county's prosperity initiative, and the absence of a finalized economic development strategic plan.

Allen noted that the board received only one quarterly report — delivered the evening before the vote — and that the contract's stated connection to prosperity initiative Policy 11, covering job quality for low-income workers, was not clearly substantiated in the contract's scope of work. Deputy County Administrator Carmine DeBonis, Jr. acknowledged the reporting lapse was on the county's side and said the economic development strategic plan, originally due in April and most recently pushed to August, would more explicitly align the chamber's work with the prosperity initiative. Scott noted that DeBonis and chamber CEO Joe Snell had been expected to participate more regularly in monthly coordination meetings under last year's contract but that scheduling had prevented it, and he urged greater engagement in the coming year. Cano thanked the chamber for its partnership but asked Snell to "rewrite the narrative" of collaboration, expressing frustration with recent Southern Arizona Leadership Council editorials critical of the board.

The board voted 5-0 to establish a process to fill the vacancy created by the resignation of Pima County Treasurer Brian Johnson, effective June 15, with an appointment targeted for the July 14 board meeting.

Supervisor Scott proposed a timeline under which the position would be posted on the county website Tuesday, advertised in the Daily Territorial by Friday, with applications due July 2, a League of Women Voters online forum on July 7, and one-on-one meetings with applicants between July 3 and July 13. Clerk of the Board Melissa Manrique confirmed applicants must submit a letter of interest, résumé, financial disclosure statement, and conflict of interest forms, and that background checks would be conducted on all qualified candidates. The appointee would serve the remainder of Johnson's term through December 31, 2028.

Also discussed:

The board voted 4-0 to continue a short-term crisis and emergency resource grant round — proposed at $1 million — to the September 22 meeting, directing staff to compile impact reports from the two previous grant rounds before the board reconsiders the item.
Pima County Recorder Gabriella Cázares-Kelly briefed the board on two new ballot drop boxes being installed in Sahuarita and at Pascua Yaqui Tribe facilities ahead of the 2026 primary, bringing the county's total to six boxes, with additional sites under consideration in Oro Valley, at the University of Arizona, and in Marana.
The board approved on a 4-1 vote the Pima County SAFER Center sobering facility contract extension funded at $2.2 million from opioid settlement funds; Supervisor Christy voted no citing concerns about long-term funding sustainability after the three-year grant period.
The board approved authorizing the procurement director to complete design and construction of the Pima County Regional Middle Mile broadband project after the county terminated its agreement with the original design-build contractor following a failed negotiation on a third guaranteed maximum price package.
The board also adopted the county's special-district budgets: the flood control district at $19.6 million (tax rate $0.3407, 5-0), the library district at $63.5 million (tax rate $0.5820, 4-1), and the stadium district at $9.7 million (4-1).
Chair Allen proclaimed June 2026 National Aphasia Awareness Month, with former U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords present in the hearing room as co-founder of Friends of Aphasia.
A Black Rooster wine importer liquor license hearing was continued to July 28 after the Arizona Department of Liquor Licenses and Control granted an extension to August 14.
The board approved on a 5-0 vote an MOU with AFSCME Local 449, amended with two additions recommended by the Pima County Attorney's Office, covering a one-year labor agreement.