PHOENIX — Governor Katie Hobbs issued a State of Emergency last year after record-breaking heat, providing $200,000 in funds for Maricopa, Pinal and Coconino counties to reimburse heat-related expenses during July.
However, only the City of Maricopa’s fire department applied for reimbursement, totaling $1,592.43.
“Oftentimes applicants identify that the eligible expenses are not beyond their fiscal capacity and ability of the jurisdiction to recover without state financial assistance,” said Judy Kioski, a spokesperson for the Arizona Department of Emergency and Military Affairs.
ABC15 reached out to Coconino County, and officials said the county didn’t apply for funding because it “did not incur extra expenses related to excessive heat.”
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The reimbursement was only for the heat-related costs during July, in which Phoenix hit a 31-day streak of record-breaking highs above 110 degrees.
The City of Phoenix deployed a bus on July 19 to serve as a supplemental cooling station, which only allowed 11 days of eligibility for reimbursement.
“Therefore, given the compressed dates of eligibility, and minimal costs exceeding normal operations, the decision was made by Fire Executive leadership to not pursue the request for public assistance in this case,” Director of City of Phoenix’s Office of Emergency Management, Brian Lee stated to ABC15.
Stacy Champion, a community advocate who has voiced her concerns about excessive heat in the Valley, says local government agencies should have been more proactive and taken better advantage of the funding.
“There were so many people dying everyday in July. There should’ve been a lot more urgency to prevent all those unnecessary deaths in the first place,” Champion said, adding she hopes to see more resources allocated as Arizona heads into another hot summer.
“I’m hopeful that we at least have some overnight cooling centers coming into this year, but I don’t think it’s nearly enough. We also have a larger number of people dying indoors from broken AC units and I don’t think that is being probably addressed yet,” Champion said.
In a statement provided to ABC15, the Governor wrote, “Moving forward, the administration will continue working to manage instances of extreme heat and work diligently to keep Arizonans safe.”
The leftover money will be reverted into the Governor’s emergency fund.
So far this year in Maricopa County, there have been two confirmed heat-related deaths with more than 20 still under investigation.
