Pinal County spending under microscope
FLORENCE — While the Pinal County Board of Supervisors finalized its fiscal year 2017 budget last week, the bigger focus was on how to curb spending of departments that habitually exceed their budgets.
The board slightly reduced the county’s primary property tax rate from 3.99 to 3.978 per $100 of assessed value.
Supervisor Steve Miller, R-Casa Grande, specifically pointed to the Pinal County Attorney’s Office, saying its proposed budget for the 2017 fiscal year will almost certainly be exceeded because PCAO budgeted virtually nothing for office supplies and other non-personnel expenses.
“What happens when they’re out of paper? Do they come see us? There’s no way they’re going to get through the year without overspending,” Miller said.
PCAO spokeswoman Tiffany Davila said cuts by the board in fiscal years 2016 and 2017 represent a nearly 9 percent total decrease over the last two years, which she said “has left the Pinal County Attorney’s Office with little more than the ability to cover personnel expenditures.”
