Maricopa County lowers property tax rate, OKs nearly $4.5B budget

PHOENIX – Property tax rates will be coming down for homeowners in Maricopa County after supervisors approved the budget for Fiscal Year 2023.

The Maricopa County Board of Supervisors said the nearly $4.5 billion budget focused on curbing the impact of inflation, which included additional support for affordable housing projects and small and micro businesses.

“The Phoenix metro area has gone from one of the most affordable in the country to one of the hardest hit by inflation. Our goal with this budget is to provide some relief to individuals and families dealing with rising costs,” board Chairman Bill Gates said in a Monday press release.

The final budget for Fiscal Year 2023 lowers the primary tax rate in Arizona’s most populous county to 1.25%, or $125 per $100,00 of home value. The current rate is 1.35%.

Even before the decrease, the board said the county, which has a population of about 4.4 million, has the fifth-lowest property tax rate in the state.

“Because we’ve been fiscally responsible in the past, we can lower the tax rate this year at a time when many families can use every extra penny they can get,” Vice Chairman Clint Hickman said.

The budget is about $950 million larger than the previous one, and includes another $435 million in federal funding from the American Rescue Plan Act.

Nearly half of the budget was targeted for public safety at 46%. The next biggest chunk, 32%, was to cover health, welfare and sanitation.

Major capital projects on the budget included a new elections center, an animal shelter in the East Valley, substations for the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office in Mesa and Surprise, and improvements at county parks.

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