By Jayne Hanson
Today’s News-Herald
The Mohave County Board of Supervisors heard an update from County Supervisors Association executive director Craig Sullivan Thursday that showed the group is moving forward to address the return of state-shared
revenues that were compromised in the state’s recession, which began in 2008.
“There is a lot of debt and burden still being carried forward (at the state level),” Sullivan said. “But in relative terms, they are still moving forward.”
The state’s current rollover debt from year-to-year is at about $1 billion this year, he said.
CSA is a non-partisan group consisting of 55 county supervisors in Arizona’s 15 counties. The group is set to expand to 61 after the new year as additional supervisorial elected are seated in newly created districts.
Each year, the group sifts through about 1,400 bills each year and rallies to identify legislative initiatives. The members to set up strategies to target, lobby, amend, or roadblock during the state’s legislative sessions.
In 2011, CSA focused on the state’s budget as its primary priority. More specifically, repealing prisoner cost shifts from state to county jails; eliminating mandatory contributions from county coffers to balance state budget shortfalls; and restoration of state-shared Highway User Revenue Funds, or HURF.