Board unanimously adopts final budget; funds critical needs, keeps tax rate low

Board unanimously adopts final budget; funds critical needs, keeps tax rate low

PIMA COUNTY June 18, 2025 – The Pima County Board of Supervisors in a series of votes June 17 adopted the Fiscal Year 2026 budget, funding critical infrastructure, public health and safety, economic growth, and more in the $1.7 billion budget. As part of the series of votes, the board lowered the primary property tax rate from the rate it set in May when it adopted the tentative budget.

Board policy requires it to account for state cost shifts in the budget. Those are costs that would normally be paid for by the state but get transferred to counties by the Legislature and Governor. For next fiscal year, the new tax rate includes the costs of those shifts plus small increases for infrastructure funding. As a result, the total property tax rate for FY 2026 will be $5.1961 per $100 of net assessed value (NAV), which is about 9.13 cents per $100 of NAV more than the current year.

Supervisors noted that, despite the small 1.7 percent rate increase, the total property tax rate is still more than 40 cents less than it was in FY 2019 which equates to hundreds of millions of avoided taxes for County taxpayers. Most of the rate increase is due to the 9.44 cents needed for the state cost shifts policy.

County Administrator Jan Lesher had sought a rate increase of 3.56 cents per $100 of NAV for County operations, but the board voted 3-2 to eliminate that increase, directing her to reduce the tax rate and budget by 3.56 cents and $4.1 million, respectively. Lesher said she would inform the Board of her recommendations for the funding changes as soon as possible.

The Budget funds the Board’s adopted priorities:

• Stable county operations and conservative budgeting;
• Maintaining County workforce competitiveness;
• Building and maintaining critical infrastructure;
• Maintaining important community programs that address early education, housing, and climate change.

There are two components to County property taxes – a property’s assessed value and the tax rate. Using formulas set by state law, rates for the different County property taxes are multiplied by the assessed value to determine the tax bill. The County imposes four types of property taxes, the Primary property tax, which funds the General Fund; the Library District, revenue from which can only be used for the Library; the Regional Flood Control District, which can only be used to fund RFCD infrastructure, programs, and administration; and the Debt Service tax which repays borrowed funds.

Additionally, the Board votes on the tax rates for two dozen facilities and improvement districts throughout the County. The votes for all those districts were unanimous.

The Board votes on each part of the budget separately. The votes were:

• 5-0 to adopt the final budget with primary property tax rate of $4.1943 per $100 of NAV, which is $0.0953 more than FY 25
• 5-0 to adopt the Regional Flood Control District budget with a tax rate of $0.3289, which is $0.0018 more than FY25
• 4-1 to adopt the Library District budget with a tax rate of $0.5579, which is $0.0042 more than FY25
• 5-0 to adopt the Debt Service budget with a tax rate of $0.1150, which is $0.0100 less than FY 25

Final Budget Highlights:

• Affordable Housing – Supervisors allocated $8.5 million for affordable housing, which the County uses for to provide funds to encourage or underwrite increased affordable housing in the County. The gap funding provided by the County plays a crucial role in bridging financial shortfalls, ensuring developers can launch or complete affordable housing projects in full.
• Road Repair – The County’s effort to fix all of the unincorporated County’s roads in 10 years continues into its seventh year with $26 million proposed for pavement preservation. Since the program started in FY 2019, the Department of Transportation has spent more $340 million and fixed more than 1,000 miles of unincorporated County roads.
• Capital Improvements – Sewer system improvements and line extensions, library renovations and improvements, flood control improvements, important road corridor upgrades, parks improvements, and improvements to aging County facilities are among the more than $200 million in Capital Improvement Projects in the Final Budget.
• Early Education – The budget will transition funding for the popular and successful Pima Early Education Program scholarships (PEEPs) from expiring federal grants to the County Library. This will ensure pre-school children in qualifying families are able to receive essential early education, which studies have shown significantly increases chances of educational and professional attainment in adulthood.
• Eviction Assistance – The County established a fund to aid people in danger of being evicted during the pandemic and the Board has continued the important program since. Keeping people housed is an essential tool in the effort to reduce rates of homelessness in the County and helps meet the goals of the Board’s Prosperity and Housing initiatives.
• Competitive Workforce – The Board approved a pay increase for County employees to keep County pay competitive and account for inflation. The 5% pay increase will be split, with 3.6% in July and the balance of 1.4% after Jan. 1, 2026. The pay increase will keep County compensation rates competitive with peer employers in the region and state, which is one of goals set by the Board in the massive overhaul of the County’s Classification and Compensation Plan that went into effect two years ago.
• Change to Budget Reserve Percentage – County Policy requires 17% of the County General Fund be reserved. This reserve fund helps maintain the County’s stellar credit rating, which saves taxpayers money on borrowed funds needed to build County infrastructure while also providing a safety net in case of disasters or economic calamity. The Final Budget lowers the reserve to 15 percent, which will provide additional funding for County programs.
• Addressing Federal Policy Volatility - The past several months has seen federally funded programs in the County subjected to stop-and-start funding notices as federal policies change abruptly, whether due to changes in policy, reversing of those changes, or legal action. The County Administrator will set aside any savings in the last quarter of the fiscal year in case they are needed to fill gaps due to federal funding changes.

To read the County budget, go to pima.gov/budget.