Public safety, parks, pets and more: How Maricopa County will spend money in 2025

Maricopa County is headed into a new fiscal year with a $3.87 billion budget that will fund new buildings, new staff and more.

That amount is less than last year's $4.35 billion, a decline driven by drops in one-time spending. In recent years, the budget has been inflated by large pension debt payments and hundreds of millions of federal COVID-19 recovery funds that supervisors largely threw toward construction projects.

Total spending is now declining as pandemic dollars dwindle and some of the county's unfunded pension obligations lessen.

Meanwhile, the county's operating budget grew slightly while sales tax revenue growth slowed — a trend expected to continue as inflation eases.

This year's budget also includes a property tax cut of just over 3%, marking the fourth consecutive year county leaders have opted to decrease the rate.

Despite the cut, the county still expects to see a slight increase in the amount of money it draws from taxes, driven by rising home valuations across the Phoenix metro area. It estimates it will take in $670 million this year from taxpayers, compared with last year's $653.1 million.

About 48% of the budget is allocated to public safety. Health and sanitation comprise roughly 26% of the county's spending, and general government functions make up another 19%. Spending on highways and streets totaled approximately 5% of spending, and culture, recreation and education received about 2% of the pie.

The new budget will run through June 30, 2025. Here's a rundown of the most notable projects that it will fund.

Parks: More money for county's newest recreation area

This year's budget puts more than $17 million toward getting the county's newest park ready for recreation.

The money will fund day-use facilities and campgrounds in the Vulture Mountains Recreation Area, located near Wickenburg. The park, which has been in the works for nearly two decades, will ultimately offer off-roading and camping opportunities in the northwest portion of the county.

Public safety: Staffing increase for County Attorney's Office

The Maricopa County Attorney's Office is slated for new staffers.

Supervisors set aside $4.1 million to hire more civil attorneys, prosecutors, paralegals and assistants this fiscal year. County Attorney Rachel Mitchell said in January that her office had continued to recruit and retain employees to fill existing vacancies, but new positions were sorely needed.

"My bureau chief tried seven cases himself last year," Mitchell said. "These attorneys are handling upwards of 20 homicides each, so they are extremely busy."

Law enforcement: Staffing increase, new lobby security for sheriff

Almost $400,000 will go toward hiring additional behavioral health responders at the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office.

The behavioral health program, which officially began last year, is intended to help deputies de-escalate calls involving people struggling with mental health or substance use issues and connect them to crisis resources. It ultimately aims to prevent unnecessary incarceration or hospitalization.

Sheriff Russ Skinner said in January that the program had just one full-time employee when it launched. He will use the money allocated this fiscal year to hire on three new licensed clinicians and a supervisor for the initiative. The new staff will run a behavioral health resource line, partner with deputies as needed on calls for service, and build connections with nonprofits and health providers.

"One of our big things is, again, continuing to grow this and better respond to the community and serve them at the level that they need," Skinner said. "Especially as we're seeing more and more mental health and abuse-type scenarios where they're not needing to be incarcerated."

The county also budgeted $3 million to "harden" the Sheriff's Office's main lobby. The agency suggested new safety features such as additional entrance barriers, bulletproof glass and mailroom security.

"Right now, it's a very soft entry," Skinner said. "In this day and age, it's long overdue."

Pets: Animal shelter to be built in West Valley

A new animal shelter will replace the county's aging and cramped Phoenix-based facility at 27th Avenue and Lower Buckeye Road.

The new shelter is expected to be constructed in the West Valley. Plans are still in design, but county officials say the new facility would add much-needed kennel capacity. They budgeted about $18 million toward the project for the coming fiscal year.

County leaders hope the new facility will complement another recently completed shelter at Baseline Road and Lewis Drive in Mesa. The new shelters aim to woo potential adopters to take pets home, increasing departmental revenue and decreasing overcrowding.

Elections: New headquarters in the works

Officials are planning a new election headquarters. The project comes as the county faces a growing number of voters and heightened security concerns around elections.

Exact details remain tentative, but pre-construction documents show county officials are considering a 200,000-square-foot multistory building with warehouse space, offices, loading docks and a subterranean level.

The new facility will be built on a piece of land at the western edge of downtown Phoenix, adjacent to the county's Forensic Science Center. It's less than a mile from the county's current elections headquarters, which sits in the Warehouse District just south of Phoenix's urban core. The shift would leave that building, known as the Maricopa County Tabulation and Election Center, empty.

Construction is expected to begin later this year. Budget documents put the full price tag at roughly $142 million.

Bodies: Extra help for Medical Examiner's Office

County leaders are allocating about $230,000 to establish a forensic pathology fellowship program in the Medical Examiner's Office.

Officials said in January that the program had been a decade in the making. They're hoping the fellowship will help the office recruit and retain medical examiners, who are in short supply nationwide.

Deputy County Manager Marcy Flanagan said it currently takes the county an average of 18 months to fill vacant forensic pathologist positions.

"It is exciting to be able to bring them on board," she said. "That should help increase the pipeline that we have of forensic pathologists entering that field."

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Sasha Hupka covers county government and election administration for The Arizona Republic. Reach her at [email protected]. Follow her on X, formerly Twitter: @SashaHupka. Follow her on Instagram or Threads: @sashahupkasnaps.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Public safety, parks and pets: A guide to Maricopa County's new budget