Yavapai County manager frames FY26 budget around holding property tax rate flat at 1.6443

County Manager Maury Thompson presented the Yavapai County Board of Supervisors with a proposed FY2026 budget on April 29 that is built on the premise of keeping the current property tax rate flat at 1.6443.

Thompson told the board the proposal assumes the rate will remain unchanged and said, “this proposal is built on the premise of a flat tax rate. So if that would be a choice that the board would not make we need to go back in and carve out $2,200,000.”

Why it matters: keeping the rate unchanged still increases the county’s property tax collections because assessed values rose. Thompson walked the board through revenue drivers — property tax, shared sales tax (TPT), vehicle license tax (VLT) and county sales/ excise taxes — and highlighted two budget tools the county used: an initial, department-specific “vacancy savings” estimate (about $4.7 million) and plans to pay down a revenue-obligation bond to free future capacity. He also noted the budget assumes a 2.8% cost‑of‑living adjustment and a 3% merit pool for employees.

Key details and context: Thompson said the proposal would raise total property tax collections compared with a Truth-in-Taxation (TNT) baseline and explained the difference in revenue the board would forgo if it adopted the TNT floor instead of holding the nominal rate. He also showed a sample household impact using assessor figures: a median full cash/home limited property value of roughly $261,000 translates in the proposal to an annual county tax of about $429.70 — roughly a $20 annual increase compared with the prior year on average.

The presentation noted Yavapai’s reserves and recently adopted higher expenditure limit give the county flexibility: Thompson said reserves are healthy and that voters’ approval of an increased expenditure limit permits one-time use of fund balance without breaching the legal cap. He cautioned that the expenditure limit change did not create new ongoing revenue.

Board members pressed staff on timing and precedent for the flat-rate choice and on whether the county has periodically used TNT. Thompson said the county has been near the TNT rate in several recent years and staff will show the historical slide with year-to-year decisions.

Ending note: Thompson asked supervisors to identify any changes they prefer; he said staff will track questions during the three-day study session and return answers the next day or in subsequent briefings. The budget schedule remains: proposed (this meeting), tentative, and then final adoption hearings in June with a final levy adoption anticipated in August.