Yavapai County supervisors review FY26 budget outlook, warn of structural limits and plan multi‑year CIP

The Yavapai County Board of Supervisors met in a study session to review the county’s fiscal‑year 2026 budget outlook, revenue forecasts and organizational priorities, and to lay out next steps for capital planning and multi‑year budgeting.

Chair Mallory opened the meeting by calling the session to order and welcoming attendees. “Well, good morning, everybody. The board of supervisors welcomes all of you here today,” Mallory said. County Manager Thompson and Budget Manager Zach Wolf then led the presentation and discussion, which covered the budget calendar, revenue trends, reserve policy, capital improvement planning and community engagement exercises used to prioritize department enhancement requests.

The discussion emphasized that while Yavapai County’s reserve position is healthy, revenue growth has moderated and some multi‑year structural pressures remain. Wolf said the county’s general fund continues to rely mainly on property taxes and sales tax (TPT), and that the county currently projects modest growth in those streams: "TPT ... I’m forecasting a little below what we're currently averaging ... preliminary right now at 2% growth." He said excise taxes, the vehicle license (VLT) revenue and Highway User Revenue Fund (HURF) receipts are being monitored but not expected to produce the large increases of prior years.

Wolf also reviewed population and parcel trends cited in the county’s analysis: a 2022 population estimate near 246,000, a recent county growth rate of about 1.7% year over year, and an assessor‑reported parcel‑count average increase of about 1.8% since 2016. He noted that much of…