La Paz County sets June 15 hearing on tentative budget plan

La Paz County is heading into its June 15 budget hearing with a tentative spending plan that is far larger than the one it adopted last year. The county’s FY 2026-27 tentative budget totals $70,476,672, up from $51,338,709 in the final FY 2025-26 budget, a jump of about $19.1 million, or 37.3 percent.

The biggest changes are not in the General Fund, which rises only slightly to $21,252,636 from $21,184,533. The sharpest increase is in special revenue funds, which climb to $41,576,864 from $26,170,753. Enterprise funds also grow, reaching $7,647,172 from $3,916,263. Taken together, the numbers suggest the county is shifting a much larger share of its budget into restricted or designated spending lines rather than expanding the core General Fund.

Residents will have their formal chance to weigh in on Monday, June 15, 2026, at 10:00 a.m. in the Board of Supervisors Meeting Room at 1108 Joshua Avenue in Parker. The county notice says any taxpayer may appear and be heard in favor of or against proposed budget expenditures, making the hearing the one public checkpoint before final adoption later in the summer.

That matters in a county where the budget touches public safety, roads, administration, health services and the support systems that keep Parker, Quartzsite, Bouse, Ehrenberg and surrounding unincorporated areas functioning. The notice also says copies of the estimates are available at the Board of Supervisors office and on the county website, so residents do not have to wait for the hearing to see the broad shape of the plan.

The tentative budget was adopted by the Board of Supervisors on May 18, and the legal notice was scheduled for publication in The Parker Pioneer on May 26 and June 2. La Paz County says tentative budget documents must be posted within seven business days after presentation to the board, and Arizona law sets the final county budget deadline as the third Monday in August.

The broader financial picture helps explain why the hearing carries weight. The county’s FY 2025 audit said the General Fund finished with a positive balance of $9.2 million after a deficit of about $4.0 million in FY 2021, but it also warned that resources still need close management after temporary federal and state funding ends. The same audit showed the Jail District Fund closed FY 2025 with a deficit balance of $544,089, a reminder that not every part of county government has recovered at the same pace.

The June 15 hearing is the first real test of whether La Paz County’s larger tentative budget reflects the priorities residents want to keep, expand or trim before the board locks in its final plan.