SAFFORD — The Graham County Board of Supervisors locked in the maximum budget for the new fiscal year.
During Monday’s meeting, the board voted unanimously to approve the 2023-24 preliminary budget of $116.3 million.
“This budget includes a market increase for all employees,” said County Manager Dustin Welker. “This market increase entails a 2.5 percent increase plus a $2,000 increase, and both of these will be applied on the base pay for each employee.”
Those two increases are equivalent to an average salary increase of 7.81 percent across all employees.
The budget has $46.7 million in the general fund, which includes $4.67 million in capital projects. There are $26.5 million in other funded capital projects.
The county’s tax levy of 2.1063 — which is 6.5 percent below the statute allowable maximum tax levy rate — will generate $6.74 million in property tax revenue.
The board will be asked to adopt the final budget at its next meeting. At that meeting the board may make cuts but cannot add any additional expenditures.
