FY 2018 COUNTY BUDGET GUIDELINES AND PRIORITIES - PROPOSED.PDF

MARICOPA COUNTY
FY 2018 Budget Guidelines and Priorities
For consideration by the Board of Supervisors on January 4, 2017
The purpose of these guidelines and priorities is to provide direction from the
Board of Supervisors to the County Manager, Office of Management and Budget
and all departments so that they can develop a sustainable, structurally-balanced
budget that achieves the County’s mission and strategic goals as set forth in the
Maricopa County Strategic Plan within available resources.
Property Taxes
It is anticipated the primary property tax rate will remain unchanged for FY 2018.
Other Major Revenue Source Assumptions
The base budget will assume the forecast values from the County’s economic
consultants for State-Shared Sales tax, State-Shared Vehicle License tax, and
Jail Excise Tax revenues.
Employee Compensation
Human Resources is directed to develop a targeted employee compensation
strategy which may include pay for performance, and a focus on retention and
service delivery. Any compensation strategy will be contingent on an evaluation
of economic conditions and funding challenges, including additional burdens or
cost shifts from the State of Arizona.
Budget Requests
1) Base budget requests for all departments and funds should allocate
resources to fulfill departmental mandates and should be prepared within
baseline amounts equal to the current budget plus authorized adjustments.
The Office of Management and Budget is directed to review and/or adjust
budget baselines for the following:
a) The annualized impact of FY 2017 budget issues or mid-year adjustments.
b) The annualized impact of other items (including intergovernmental
agreements) that were approved by the Board of Supervisors, so long as
the impact was disclosed at the time of Board approval.
c) Items required by State law, such as judges’ and elected officials’ salary
increases and mandated contributions to AHCCCS, ALTCS, Juvenile
Corrections, the Department of Revenue and other programs.
d) Unique considerations as directed by the Board of Supervisors or
technical adjustments as required.
2) All departments must submit their General Fund and Detention Fund base
expenditure budget requests within their baseline budget. No funding will be
available for new or expanded programs in the General or Detention Funds.

FY 2018 Maricopa County Budget Guidelines and Priorities
Page 2 of 3
Budgeted revenue in any fund may exceed baseline amounts if justified by
projections.
Special Revenue Fund budget requests may exceed baselines, provided
revenue projections are sufficient to retain structural balance.
If the current revenue baseline in a Special Revenue fund cannot be met,
departments must reduce both base expenditures and revenue by an amount
sufficient to restore structural balance.
3) Departments participating in the Zero-Based Budget process will complete
budget requests utilizing the instructions provided by the Office of
Management and Budget. Items (1) and (2) above do not apply to ZBB
requests.
4) All budget submissions will be analyzed by the Office of Management and
Budget for budget reductions.
User Fees
Per the Budgeting and Accountability Policy, user fees are to be reviewed
annually in conjunction with the budget development process. Existing user fees
will be re-evaluated and necessary changes should be presented to the Board of
Supervisors. New user fees should be brought forward to the Board of
Supervisors for consideration.
Contingency, Reserves and Fund Balances
OMB is directed to provide a recommendation for the reserved and unreserved
levels of operating contingency in the General Fund.
In accordance with the Board of Supervisors’ strategic goals regarding structural
balance and reserves, fund balances will first be used to maintain reserves equal
to two-months of prior year operating expenditures in the General and Detention
funds. A decision on reserve levels will be made prior to allocation of General or
Detention fund balances for any other purpose.
No requests for new non-recurring, one-time General or Detention funds will be
entertained.
In accordance with the Board of Supervisors’ strategic goal regarding structural
balance, requests to use Special Revenue fund balances should be limited to
either building reserves or one-time, non-recurring expenditures and should not
be used to offset an operating deficit. Any use of fund balances and other non-
recurring sources to support an operating budget deficit must be specifically
approved by the Board of Supervisors.

FY 2018 Maricopa County Budget Guidelines and Priorities
Page 3 of 3
Expenditure Limitation
Increases to expenditures will be evaluated for their impact to the County’s
Expenditure Limitation as outlined in the Arizona Constitution Article 9 Section 20
and Arizona Revised Statute 41-563. To mitigate the impact of expenditure
increases on the expenditure limitation, financing will be considered where there
is an established, conservative repayment plan.
Capital Improvement Program
No funding will be available for new capital improvement projects until reserve
decisions have been made by the Board of Supervisors. Requests for Facilities
Capital Improvement or Information Technology projects will be reviewed using a
process defined by the Facilities Management Department or the Office of
Enterprise Technology. Projects prioritized as part of this review process will be
forwarded for consideration by the Board for funding within available resources.
The Transportation Department will work with the Office of Management and
Budget to develop an updated Transportation Capital Improvement Program
budget for FY 2018 that, within available non-recurring resources, meets the
strategic goal of developing, identifying funding, and beginning to implement a
long-range plan for addressing HURF funded projects and transportation
infrastructure needs.