Maricopa County residents have been warned that they are likely going to see a tax increase when the Board of Supervisors vote on final approval of the FY 2026 budget during a public hearing on Monday, June 23rd.
The Board does not control property values. However, as property values increase, the tax levy for existing property owners will also increase. The Board could prevent the increase by reducing the rate enough to offset the property value increase, but has given no indication it is interested in doing so. As a result, some property owners may be subject to a tax increase due to positive property value market adjustments in a growing economy.
One expert on taxation told the Arizona Daily Independent that “people can always request further decreases in the rate, but it seems that it is not out of line. The county is generally responsible for only about 13% of the tax bill. Cities, school districts, voter-approved bond issues, and taxing districts are the major contributors to the tax bill.”
For example, the last (2024) bill for the Villa Maria District in NE Phoenix was as follows.
| Maricopa County BOS | 13.02% |
| Elected School Boards | 43.51% |
| District Voters | 28.35% |
| City Councils | 12.11% |
| Special District Boards | 3.01% |
The Board, which also governs the Flood Control, Library, and Stadium districts, adopted a tentative budget on May 19th of $3.955 billion.
Before the final budget vote, the public will have the opportunity to comment on the FY 2026 budget which lowers the overall tax rate.
The “Truth in Taxation” hearing is required by law and provides Maricopa County taxpayers the opportunity to voice their opinion about the following proposed levies:
- Primary property tax increase of $12,233,134 or 1.81%, which would raise primary property taxes on a $100,000 home from $113.85 to $115.91.
- No secondary property tax increase for Flood Control District or Library District.
All interested citizens are invited to attend the public hearing on the tax increase that is scheduled to be held June 23, 2025 at 9:30 a.m. at the Board of Supervisors’ Conference Room, 301 W. Jefferson, 10th Floor, Phoenix, Arizona 85003. This notice will be published in the Arizona Business Gazette on June 5th and June 12th.
In accordance with State statute, the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors will meet at a future date to vote on the final tax levy proposal. That meeting will be held on August 18, 2025.
Why does the headline focus on a tax hike when this is the line waaaaay down in the article…..”Before the final budget vote, the public will have the opportunity to comment on the FY 2026 budget which lowers the overall tax rate.”
If the budget lowers the overall tax rate, shouldn’t that be the story?
Excellent point. If my pre-coffee reading comprehension is tracking, real taxes will increase due to property values – over which the Board has no control – but the rate of taxes will decrease. Down is still up as our dollar continues to devalue (aka, ‘inflation’) and a restrictive building regime continues to increase housing prices. Thank you for pointing that out.
Mr. or Ms. Editor, this smells of writing to lead the reader. It could have read, “Despite a FY 2026 budget which would lower the overall tax rate, Maricopa County residents have been warned that they are likely going to see a tax increase…” Tsk, tsk.
A hard reckoning is coming for the Communist Indoctrination Institutions known as public schools and property owners. 30% of the seats are filled with illegals. TUSD announced funding a $1MILLION election to raise $45,000,000 through increased taxes, about $500 per year for the average home owner. Just wait til the mass layoffs have to occur as enrollment sinks.
And the reason for this massive increase? ““Hopefully it means they’ve got teachers who are a little bit less stressed, because they’re not looking paycheck to paycheck to make sure bills are being paid with rising costs out there in the economy,” Byrne(TEA Pres) said.”
I have so many reasons to be thankful for not living in Maricopa, but my irritations towards civic imposition are county-agnostic. The idea that I owe the gov’t duties for the privilege of buying and maintaining my own possessions (real estate and vehicular) is disgusting. It is morally outrageous and repugnant to the idea of private property.
Taxation is not the cost of civilization, rather it is the cost of political apathy and ideological dubiety in refuting parliamentary greed. I pray one day the body politic will find the motivation and will to hire better people, to say nothing of better managers for the public purse.
we need to declare property taxes illegal
time to end this govt taking
The ‘new’ Board members make a mockery of the word “conservative”.
Tax, tax, and tax again! It’s all they know how to do!
Why do we need this layer of bureaucrats. Infuriating.
Do we need this layer of bureaucrats? Infuriating.
Property tax is a scam. The assessor sets the value based on some voodoo math. Values virtually always increase (I remember one decrease in valuation in the last 20 years) meaning you pay more tax on property you already own, based on a subjective assessment, which means nothing. Property tax is essentially an income tax, since you realize no immediate value from your residence to offset the fee. Each of those entities described in the story submit their own budgets and request their own tax levies. So MCBOS could limit its levy, but your tax will go up anyway, based on the others who are picking your pocket. In this model, there is no incentive to improve performance.