Pima County Treasurer’s Office corrects past investment reporting error

PIMA COUNTY, AZ (Oct. 2, 2025) — The Pima County Treasurer’s Office has corrected a significant error in reporting investment income that occurred between July 2019 and September 2021.

The error, caused by incorrect data entry in internal spreadsheets, resulted in an overstatement of investment earnings. This led to overpayments of investment income to various local taxing jurisdictions, creating a $1.6 million negative cash balance. The prior administration had moved this unaccounted-for balance into a suspense account.

Current Treasurer Johnson and his team discovered the issue after taking office and immediately conducted a thorough review of financial records. All funds have now been accounted for. The office has concluded that the matter was strictly a reporting error with no evidence of other impropriety.

Crucially, this error will not impact taxpayers financially.

The Correction Plan

To recover the overpayments, the Treasurer’s Office will adjust the total investment interest distribution starting November 1, 2025.

• The Treasurer’s Office will recover the overpayments by proportionally reducing each agency’s distribution, aiming for a total reduction of $200,000 monthly.
• This correction process will take eight months and conclude with the June 2026 distribution.

This schedule was specifically designed to minimize disruption to the jurisdictions that received overpayments.

The Pima County Treasurer’s Office is committed to transparency and will continue to provide updates and support to all impacted jurisdictions throughout the adjustment process.