Maricopa County supervisors accept committee recommendation to seek 20-year extension of jail excise tax

Maricopa County supervisors voted to accept the Public Safety Funding Committee's recommendation that the county pursue a 20-year extension of the county's detention excise sales tax at the current rate of one-fifth of one cent. The committee's report noted the tax is scheduled to expire in March 2027 and that failing to extend it would likely require significant property tax increases and reductions in services, according to materials presented to the board.

The committee said an outside consultant's review of fiscal-year 2023 expenditures found roughly 99% of detention-fund spending is driven by legal mandates ' statutes, court orders or constitutional provisions ' including associated administrative costs. The committee also reviewed a jail master plan and juvenile facility assessment by Arrington Watkins Architects, which estimated capital and maintenance needs of $1.6 billion to $2.0 billion over the next 15 years.

Committee members described a multi-pronged set of policy recommendations to accompany any ballot measure. The recommendations covered reentry and community services (partnerships for crime prevention and reentry, collaboration with the state on Medicaid waivers for pretrial/prerelease individuals, and coordination to strengthen behavioral-health capacity); programming and courts (continued funding for probation and diversion programs, maintaining treatment standards, and reviewing juvenile placement policies); and capital and operations (replacement of outdated facilities, improvements to intake/transfer/release functions and enhanced security at the Durango campus). The committee also recommended workforce recruitment and retention initiatives for detention officers and behavioral-health staff, regular assessment of capital needs, formation of a citizens' oversight committee for detention-fund usage, and creation of an internal working group for longer-term research and collaboration.

Sheriff Paul Penzone Skinner (Sheriff Skinner) told the board the county has evolved in how it handles mental-health and addiction issues in the jail system and warned of operational impacts if funding lapses. "If we don't have this and if this does not go forward, there is serious, you know, doubt in my mind that we will be scrambling to see what we can do to help not only our inmates but the services that we offer as a county," he said during remarks recorded in the meeting.

The board moved to accept the committee recommendations and the motion carried. The Board then voted to dissolve the Public Safety Funding Committee.

The committee said it organized 12 public meetings, facility visits, probation ride-alongs, public webinars and a public survey during about nine months of work. Its report and supporting materials, including the FY2023 expense review and the jail master plan, were provided to supervisors ahead of the vote. The board did not vote on a ballot placement or language at the meeting; supervisors accepted the committee's recommendation to pursue authorization from the legislature and voters and directed staff materials were provided for legislative outreach and the board's next steps.

Background: Maricopa County voters originally approved a one-fifth-cent (0.2 cent) sales tax for detention in 1998 and extended it in 2002; county staff and the committee highlighted that Arizona law limits counties' authority to levy or extend such a sales tax without legislative authorization and voter approval.

What's next: The board accepted the recommendation to pursue a 20-year extension at the current rate and dissolved the study committee; supervisors discussed legislative outreach as part of the county's 2025 legislative agenda during the same meeting.