Curt Prendergast

2 days ago | tucsonagenda.substack.com | Joe Ferguson |Curt Prendergast

You are not going to like it, but the biggest culprit behind why your property taxes are probably going up isn’t Pima County. It’s the state Legislature, where shifting costs from the state to the county will take an estimated $126 million chunk out of the county’s $1.76 billion budget. And let’s not forget the giant question mark the county should have in place for federal funding that has been awarded, but is stuck in legal limbo under the Trump administration.

3 days ago | tucsonagenda.substack.com | Joe Ferguson |Curt Prendergast

There will be winners and losers as the Tucson City Council pencils out a $2.4 billion budget. The budget discussion starts next week — in a month, the ink will be dry on this budget. We outlined the various pressures on the budget in yesterday's edition. The $2.4 billion proposed budget is the same size as this year’s budget — but revenues are dwindling and costs are going up everywhere. Something has to give and the Council members have some choices to make.

4 days ago | tucsonagenda.substack.com | Joe Ferguson |Curt Prendergast

It would be hard to put your finger on when the City of Tucson’s budget for next year veered into crisis mode. Maybe it was when pandemic funding dried up, President Donald Trump signed executive orders jeopardizing federal funding, the state released anemic economic forecasts or when voters rejected Proposition 414 in March. All those issues are coming to a head as Tucson City Council members prepare to make their final budget tweaks, which could come as early as their May 20 meeting.

1 week ago | tucsonagenda.substack.com | Curt Prendergast

We really want to like Pima County. But good grief, they make it hard sometimes. For the past two weeks, county officials have been complaining — loudly — about the way we cover what they’re doing (or not doing). Normally, we’d say that just comes with the territory, as we’ve done over the past year or so whenever they get persnickety. We always own up and correct anything we get wrong. Maybe with a chuckle if they’re being uber-uptight. News reporting is messy.

1 week ago | tucsonagenda.substack.com | Joe Ferguson |Curt Prendergast

An anticipated fight between the Tucson City Council and Pima County Board of Supervisors over a new water rate — which will charge county residents more — might not happen. A slim majority of the supervisors rejected a resolution on Tuesday and derailed what was likely a precursor to another lawsuit against the city.