Yavapai County faces revenue numbers that took double-digit hits over the last two years as it prepares to set a budget for fiscal year 2009-10.

Yavapai County Administrator Julie Ayers reported to the Yavapai County Board of Supervisors on May 18 county sales tax revenue is down 21 percent in April compared to April 2008, and state shared sales tax revenue is down 18 percent for the same months.

April’s numbers set the county back 27 percent for county sales tax and 26 percent for state shared sales tax over the past two years, according to Ayers.

“We continue to see deterioration in these revenues,” Ayers told the board.

Yavapai County District 2 Supervisor Tom Thurman said the county anticipated numbers to be down but believes they will come back up. Some months will be down and others will be up to offset those down months.

Yavapai County District 3 Supervisor Chip Davis also said there will be an end to the downward slide.

“The economy is going to turn around. We’re going to be fine but trying to hold it all together until that day comes is the challenge,” Davis said.

However, sales tax numbers aren’t Thurman’s biggest concern.

“I’m more worried about what the legislature is going to do to the municipalities,” Thurman said.

The state, which is struggling with its budget, has yet to let cities, towns and counties know how money will be distributed next fiscal year, making local budget processes difficult.

“It’s a shot in the dark,” Thurman said.

The scary part is the state also has to balance its budget, Davis said.

“That means dramatic impacts on everybody,” Davis said.

The county is maintaining daily communication with legislative representatives to find out what is going on down in Phoenix, according to Thurman, but more than likely won’t know how much money it will get from the state until the end of June. Then, it will be up to the county to adjust its budget based on state funding levels in the first few weeks of July.

Any further cuts at the county level will have a big impact on county services, according to Davis.

Based on current revenue figures, Ayers said she is anticipating a 4 percent decrease in the county’s general fund budget from FY 2008-09 to FY 2009-10 and a 12 percent decrease in the Yavapai County Jail District budget.

The county will have to continue to reevaluate its budget on a regular basis to adjust to revenue levels, Davis said, which it’s been doing since the economy began its backslide two years ago.

The jail budget is based primarily on county sales tax and those numbers continue to decline. The board decided early this year not to again ask voters for a sales tax increase of 1/4-cent for the jail district after the measure failed on the November ballot, but it is an option that could be explored at a later date.

County department heads worked over the past weeks at balancing their individual budgets and Ayers said they will continue to do so.

In January, board members called on each department, except development services, to trim its budget by 7.5 percent to help with the budget crunch caused by the economic downturn.

The board meets Monday, June 1, at 9 a.m. in Prescott to continue budget discussions.