The Maricopa County budget will be going up a little more than 1 percent for the 2016 Fiscal year. The County Board of Supervisors is scheduled to tentatively approve the new budget today.
The proposed budget calls for an increase of about $23 million above last year’s $2.2 billion budget.
Most departments showed little or no increase to their budgets. Two areas showing significant bumps include employee health care cost, adding nearly $12 million to the budget.
Law-enforcement related costs also are up, much of the increase there is due to federal court orders or settlements affecting the Maricopa County Sheriff’s office.
That includes changes brought about by the civil-rights suit against the MCSO. That adds nearly $6 million in fiscal year 2016.
Another $4 million in costs comes from a settlement over a decades-long lawsuit regarding the lack of mental health services in the county jail system.
