
October 30, 2021
Yavapai County seal. (Courier file photo)
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With a $5 million contract for broadband improvements in the Verde Villages of the Verde Valley, Yavapai County could complete its allocations for the American Rescue Plan Act-funded Broadband Initiative this week.

High-speed internet in the Spring Valley/Cordes Junction area, along with Paulden, White Horse Ranch, and Rimrock/Beaver Creek, could all benefit from an $8.1 million contract that the Yavapai County Board of Supervisors will consider this week.

With the bulk of Yavapai County’s $46 million in federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) money now either spent or committed to projects, officials say about $3.3 million remains as “unassigned.”

A proposal to pay the County Supervisors and County Manager $800 per month for use of personal vehicles, an update on the Del Rio Springs Ranch State Park, and an initial 2024-25 budget planning will be up for discussion at two Yavapai County Board of Supervisors meetings this week.

Criminal investigators, forest rescue crews and road workers are among the Yavapai County employees who will soon begin to receive some compensation for the hours they spend waiting for a phone call to report for duty.

A move to pay county employees for the time they are spent serving in an “on-call” status will be among three Human Resources matters that the Yavapai County Board of Supervisors will consider this week.

A $2.1 million funding award for a replacement helicopter for the Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office and a possible land exchange between the U.S. Forest Service and the Yavapai-Apache Nation will be among the issues up for consideration by the Yavapai County Board of Supervisors this week.

A $4.4 million safety improvement project on Iron Springs Road west of Prescott and a closed-door discussion on the county’s intergovernmental agreement with the Upper Verde Watershed Protection Coalition will be among the issues the Yavapai County Board of Supervisors will consider this week.

Through a recent change in the management structure at Yavapai County, a number of decisions, such as department-head hiring, will go through administrative channels, rather than through the Board of Supervisors.

Months of discussions and public hearings on Yavapai County’s budget culminated this week with a vote by the Board of Supervisors to approve a tentative budget for the 2023-24 fiscal year that began on July 1.

In the wake of last week’s grand opening for the new Yavapai County Justice Center in Prescott, the Yavapai County Board of Supervisors is scheduled to hear a report this week from Sheriff David Rhodes on the schedule for getting the new center fully staffed and opened.

A nearly half-million-dollar study on space planning for Yavapai County, along with a review of budget choices for the coming fiscal year, will be among the issues the Yavapai County Board of Supervisors will consider this week.

With an eye on a state-imposed expenditures limit, along with a priority of ensuring adequate pay for county employees, the Yavapai County Board of Supervisors gave a nod of approval this week to a budget that includes about $7.5 million in employee raises, but a minimum of new staff positions.

In Yavapai County’s ongoing efforts to stay competitive in the job market, the Yavapai County Board of Supervisors agreed this week to improve the employee health insurance package, at an annual cost to the county of $163,000.

An adjustment to the number, size and boundaries of election precincts in Yavapai County got unanimous approval by the Yavapai County Board of Supervisors this week.

After more than two years of work on the Yavapai County 2032 Comprehensive Plan, the Yavapai County Board of Supervisors could culminate the process this week by adopting the plan.

A move to improve short-term disability benefits for county employees, at a total cost of $83,700, will be among the issues the Yavapai County Board of Supervisors will consider in Prescott this week.

With more and more voters becoming interested in the election process, the Yavapai County Recorder and Elections departments are looking to redesign their offices to help with transparency, as well as work flow.

Over the past five years, Yavapai County’s unfunded liability with the Public Safety Personnel Retirement System has dropped by about $11 million — from $52.2 million in 2018 to the current 2023 level of $41.2 million.

With an unfunded liability in its Public Safety Personnel Retirement System of about $41 million, Yavapai County is required by the state to annually discuss a policy for dealing with the pension debt.

In what is expected to be the last Yavapai County Board of Supervisors meeting overseen by longtime County Administrator Phil Bourdon this week, the board will consider a new management system for events at the Yavapai County Courthouse Plaza.

The three legislators who just won election to the Arizona State Legislature from District 1 are scheduled to meet with the Yavapai County Board of Supervisors this week to talk about priorities for the upcoming 2023 session.

The process of finding a replacement for longtime Yavapai County Attorney Sheila Polk is expected to begin Wednesday, when the Yavapai County Supervisors are scheduled to consider two items regarding the County Attorney position.

Yavapai County voters will not be faced with a decision on raising the Jail District sales tax in May, 2023, but they could see a ballot measure in November 2023 on whether to raise the county’s state-imposed expenditure limit.

The possibility of taking a Yavapai County Jail District quarter-cent sales tax increase to the voters in May 2023 will be up for discussion by the Yavapai County Board of Supervisors this week – one of several options being considered to deal with ongoing expenditure limit issues.

A Miller Valley Road building that has housed a number of Prescott businesses over the years could become a new location for the Yavapai County Community Health Department, depending on a decision by the Yavapai County Board of Supervisors this week.

In a split vote this week, the Yavapai County Board of Supervisors agreed to seek proposals for a county master plan that could come with a price tag of upwards of $500,000.

Prior to the Yavapai County Board of Supervisors’ acceptance of County Recorder Leslie Hoffman’s resignation this week, the board approved a process for replacing Hoffman.

Yavapai County Recorder Leslie Hoffman would like to remind voters about important information regarding the upcoming 2022 Primary Election being held Tuesday, Aug. 2...

With revenues up significantly in the past fiscal year, the Yavapai County Board of Supervisors approved a tentative 2022-23 budget this week that includes millions of dollars for increases in staff salaries and benefits, pension fund payments, and jail operations.

Culminating months of meetings and hearings, the Yavapai County Board of Supervisors will consider tentative approval this week of the budget for the 2022-23 fiscal year that begins on July 1.

The Yavapai County Board of Supervisors (BOS) at its meeting Wednesday will consider approving a $647,048 grant for building a pharmacy at the county’s Community Health Center, 1090 Commerce Drive in Prescott.

The bulk of Yavapai County’s nearly $46 million in American Rescue Plan Act money is expected to be spent in the coming fiscal year on projects such as broadband improvements, water and sewer projects, and Community Health Services.

Progress on Yavapai County’s ongoing initiative to improve high-speed internet in underserved and unserved areas, and a countywide fireworks ban will be among the issues the Yavapai County Board of Supervisors will discuss this week.

Beginning in July, nearly 1,500 employees of Yavapai County can expect to see salary increases averaging about $4,000 per year, plus a 3.5% cost-of-living raise.

More than $8 million in American Rescue Plan Act money could be going to water and sewer systems throughout Yavapai County soon, if the Board of Supervisors approves about three dozen recommended projects this week.

Yavapai County Board of Supervisors Chair Mary Mallory on May 2 signed the Interim Fire Prohibition Order, which bans using fireworks and implements Stage 1 fire restrictions across all four fire zones in Yavapai County starting at 8 a.m. May 5, a county news release reported.

For months, Yavapai County Supervisors have been hearing that a lack of competitiveness in employee salaries has resulted in high turnover rates and inability to fill some job positions.

Yavapai County will have more flexibility for how it uses $10 million of the $45.7 million in American Rescue Plan Act money the county is receiving.

The Yavapai County Development Services Department is planning meetings in the Ash Fork and Paulden communities in the coming weeks to answer general building, zoning, and permitting questions.

Nearly a quarter of the $45.7 million that Yavapai County is receiving through the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) could go toward general county government services, depending on a decision of the Board of Supervisors this week.

The BOS will meet at 9 a.m. Wednesday, April 6, in the supervisors’ hearing room on the first floor of the Yavapai County Administrative Services Building, 1015 Fair St., in Prescott.

With the 2022 delinquent tax lien sale now behind it, the Yavapai County Treasurer’s Office is reminding the public of the opportunities and risks involved in the tax lien certificate program (also known as the tax lien auction).

A report on Yavapai County’s implementation of Arizona Congressional redistricting; a request for temporary premium pay for Community Health Center nurses; and a policy on the public safety pension system will be among the topics up for discussion by the Yavapai County Board of Supervisors this week.

Five Superior Court judges, the Clerk of Court, and five justices of the peace and constable positions will be up for election in Yavapai County in 2022.

A plan for cultivation of cannabis on land west of Highway 260 between Cottonwood and Camp Verde, an expansion of a winery in Cornville and a policy for water adequacy outside of the Active Management Area are among the issues that the Yavapai County Board of Supervisors will discuss in Cottonwood this week.

With a contract for as much as $20 million in broadband improvements approaching in the next month or two, the Yavapai County Board of Supervisors will consider going out for proposals for a consultant to manage the project.

In a move that is being driven by a surge in COVID-19-related deaths, Yavapai County approved an emergency purchase this week that will provide 20 more morgue spaces.

Three separate items for addressing non-competitive county salaries will go before the Yavapai County Board of Supervisors this week.

Two expenditures will go before the Yavapai County Board of Supervisors this week for possible funding by the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA).