One of the first items on Tucson City Council’s meeting list last week concerned making August 15 through September 15, 2021, “Equity, Diversity, & Inclusiveness Month.”
Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) are often referenced together, but each are individual concepts with their own definitions. Diversity concerns differences like race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, gender identity, religion, caste, tribe, and socio-economic status. Equity differs from equality. Rather, equity focuses on equality of outcome. Inclusion is a combined practice of diversity and equity; oftentimes, it signifies inclusion of diverse individuals for equitable outcomes.
Tucson set aside time for this initiative as they continue their search for a chief equity officer for their new Office of Equity. Earlier this summer, Mayor Regina Romero and the council funneled $500,000 into the office with the approval of the budget. The Chief Equity Officer could have a salary ranging from nearly $81,000 to around $143,000.
The city didn’t appear to search too far for the leader of their six-figure investment. The city affiliates with a network called Government Alliance on Race and Equity (GARE) who assisted in designing the chief equity officer role.
Out of three candidates for the equity role, Tucson officials chose the one affiliated with GARE – Roberto Montoya, a GARE regional manager. However, Montoya turned down the offer.
In addition to the chief equity officer, Tucson’s equity office will also have three program managers and an administrative specialist.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
The Arizona state coffers are running over with cash. The state is set to receive $12B in federal recovery funds, more than the entire annual state budget. On top of that, forecasting by the Joint Legislative Budget Committee projects by 2024 the state will have a $6.4B cash balance with $1.5B in ongoing revenues. Republicans in the Legislature and Governor Ducey are looking to return the record high, multi-billion-dollar state surplus to taxpayers by passing major tax cuts.
On the front lines to defeat these efforts—the cities—that are claiming major income tax reductions will significantly impact their bottom line. But it isn’t just the state sitting comfortably on a mountain of cash, the cities are too.
In opposing the proposed tax cuts, cities are arguing that the package will result in a $225 million decrease in their shared revenue from income tax collections. Despite this estimate being seriously flawed, their projections are in reality insignificant.
Based on research from the Arizona Tax Research Association, we’ll look at 4 cities—urban, rural, small, and large—comparing their estimated “cut” from the tax package to their cash balances and scored against additional revenues generated from the 2019 Wayfair legislation, which permanently expanded the cities’ tax base.
Chandler
The city of Chandler has a budget of just under $317 million in general fund expenditures for FY2021, leaving nearly $135 million in the general fund.
So far in FY2021, the city has collected close to $3.6 million in new, local TPT revenue and $1.2 million in state shared TPT collections by remote sellers. Taking the average from the 8 months of collections so far in FY2021, this would result in just over $7 million annually.
The estimate of Chandler’s decrease in shared revenue? Just over $10 million.
With a cash balance of $135 million, $7 million in new revenue from Wayfair, Prop 207 revenue, and nearly $36 million in Covid cash from the latest package, residents of Chandler need not worry about their city providing a high level of service.
Their estimated “cut” represents a 0.67% decrease in Chandler’s general fund when scored against new ongoing tax revenues.
Flagstaff
The city of Flagstaff budgeted $81.7 million in general fund expenditures for FY2021, leaving the city with a cash balance of over $33 million.
From Wayfair, Flagstaff has already collected $1.3 million from remote sellers and their estimated state share is $340,000. Averaged out this is just under $2.5 million in new annual revenue. Flagstaff has also received $15.2 million in new Covid cash.
The estimated “cut” from income tax reductions? $2.9 million. This represents a mere 0.36% decrease in the general fund when scored against new ongoing tax revenues…
The Arizona Department of Veterans’ Services has reported 16 resident deaths among its two State Veterans’ Homes as of March 14 and has corrective deficiencies which led federal regulators to cite both homes, according to a recently issued Arizona Auditor General performance report.
The audit required by the Joint Legislative Audit Committee provides state officials and lawmakers with detailed information about operational matters with the Veterans’ Homes which provide skilled nursing and rehabilitative care for geriatric and chronically ill veterans and their dependent or surviving spouses.
Currently the Department operates a 200-bed facility in Phoenix and a 120-bed facility in Tucson. In addition, construction is underway on two 80-bed homes in Flagstaff and Yuma which could be ready to admit residents in FY2022.
Among the issues auditors reviewed was compliance with state licensing and federal certification requirements. Both the Phoenix and Tucson homes were cited by federal regulators between 2017 and 2019 for health, safety, and quality-of-care deficiencies, but corrective action was taken in response, according to the April 12 report.
“The Phoenix Home was cited for more (Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services) health deficiencies and the Tucson Home was cited for fewer CMS health deficiencies than State and national averages,” the report states.
For FY2020, the Homes took in about $40.4 million in revenues and had nearly $37.4 million in expenditures. State law requires the facilities to be financially self-sustaining, so the Department will rely on the Homes’ Trust Fund’s current $30.3 million balance to cover the initial operating costs of the new Veterans’ Homes in Flagstaff and Yuma once those facilities open.
The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) provided 65 percent of the construction costs for the new homes.
The audit report also addresses the ongoing discussion about adding new Homes and other long-term care options for Arizona’s veterans, and where such facilities might be located. But auditors noted VA projects Arizona’s veteran population to decline significantly in the next 25 years.
“Arizona’s population of veterans age 65 years and older is projected to decline about 47 percent from approximately 255,000 veterans in 2020 to 136,000 veterans in 2045,” the report notes.
In addition, many veterans and their families are interested in shifting toward more cost-effective, home-based or community-based services rather than centralized nursing homes in large cities.
“Research on long-term care services we reviewed indicates that older people prefer home- and community-based services, including assisted living, more than nursing home care and that nursing home use is gradually declining in the country,” the report states. “The VA has also stated its goal is to keep veterans in their homes, if that is their desire.”
Challenges brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic were also addressed in the audit report, which notes that screening procedures, restricted visitor access, and routine staff testing were implemented at both homes, as were resident vaccination protocols.
In addition to the 16 resident deaths reported, 70 of the 190 residents across the two homes and 97 of 306 staff members were reported to the Arizona Department of Health Services as COVID-19 “cases” as of March 14.
The audit also found 159 residents across the two homes received at least one vaccination dose as of March 26, while only 190 of the 306 staff members had begun the vaccination regime.
