Yavapai County proposes flat tax rate, staff pay increases and a measured draw on reserves in FY26 budget preview

Yavapai County Manager Maury Thompson on April 29 presented a proposed FY2026 budget that holds the county's property tax rate steady at 1.6443 and emphasizes employee compensation while relying on one-time resources and reserves to manage a structural shortfall.

Thompson said the proposal funds a 2.8% cost-of-living adjustment and a 3% merit pool for eligible employees and adds a new approach to "vacancy savings" that counts historically unfilled positions up front, producing roughly $4.7 million in assumed savings. He described the package as a mix of recurring and one-time choices intended to preserve service levels while the county works toward structural balance.

Why it matters: property taxes, shared sales taxes and state-shared revenue together determine how large the county's operating "box" is. Holding the rate flat preserves taxpayers' annual rate but allows growth in total collections as assessed values rise; Thompson told the board that if…