On May 18, the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors gave unanimous approval to their tentative FY2027 budget. Their press release stating how wonderful this budget is may be read HERE It includes statements by both the Chairman and the Vice Chairman as follows:
Chairman Kate Brophy McGee:
“There’s no way to sugarcoat this: with an uncertain statewide economic outlook, it’s a tough year to budget,” said Chair Kate Brophy McGee, District 3. “To best serve our taxpayers, we had to say ‘no’ to most spending requests. However, I am proud we found efficiencies to ensure we provide the same level of services and give some relief to taxpayers while safeguarding against an economic downturn. With these efforts we can invest in our high-performing employees who bring so much value to Maricopa County.”
Vice-Chairman Debbie Lesko:
“Keeping your taxes as low as possible has always been one of my top priorities,” said Vice Chair Debbie Lesko, District 4. “This year, we are once again voting to cut your property tax rate, showing that Maricopa County leads the way in fiscal responsibility.”
The implication, if not the outright claim, of these statements and others like them is that Maricopa County property tax payers are being handed a much-needed property tax break.
The actual text of the budget proposal is available to the public HERE, so taxpayers can evaluate the validity of statements made. We did just that, and this is what we found on Schedule B of the budget proposal:
In Fiscal Year 2026 the total tax levy amount was $812,672,896.
The same item for Fiscal Year 2027 is $851,476,924
The amount levied is being increased by $38,804,028 (a 4.77% increase)
In other words, this budget contains a tax increase, not a tax break.
Long-time property tax observer and commentator Lynne Weaver explains this tax cut deceptive scheme as follows:
“The Maricopa County Board of Supervisors (MCBOS) proposes collecting 4.8% more property tax revenue than the previous year while claiming this is a “tax cut” because they reduced the “tax rate.”
First, property owners do not care what the rate is. Property owners only care how much they are paying in taxes. And we will be paying more.
Annual increases in assessed valuation are determined by the County Assessor and are purely speculative. The total assessed value of property within the boundaries of the taxing district multiplied by the tax rate is how much the County will collect in property taxes.
This year the total valuation increased by about $41 Million.
Unless the MCBOS lowers the tax rate so that the same amount of tax revenue is collected from property owners as last year, it is not a tax cut. It is a tax increase”.
The main takeaway from this incident is that it once again validates the advice to citizens that they should disregard politicians’ characterizations of their actions and rely instead on solid evidence, such as the text of the documents involved.
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