Yuma County updates Capitol projects, budget plans ahead of tax hearing

Yuma County supervisors are pressing ahead with budget planning as they weigh a November ballot question that could permanently raise the county’s spending base and give local government more room to operate under Arizona’s spending limit. The issue is not abstract in Yuma: the county says its fiscal year 2026 budget is $552 million, while the state-set expenditure limitation is $121 million, leaving a $431 million gap between what the county budgets and what it can legally spend under the cap.

The county is preparing to ask voters on November 3, 2026, to approve a Permanent Base Adjustment to the Annual Expenditure Limitation. If approved, the measure would increase the base by $6.2 million, about 65%, beginning in fiscal year 2027-2028. County officials say the request would not raise taxes, but would change the legal calculation that governs how much the county may spend each year. The county also says the formula traces back to Arizona’s 1980 constitutional spending limit and is still built on 1979-80 spending levels.

County leaders argue the existing cap has drifted out of line with current finances. Over the past decade, the county says, state-collected sales taxes shared with Yuma County rose an average of 6.4% a year, while the expenditure limit increased 2.6% a year. Officials also point to the 2020 Census, which reduced the county’s base and lowered allowable expenditures even as demand for services continued.

The budget discussion is moving alongside a public hearing already on the calendar. Yuma County will hold its Truth in Taxation hearing at 9 a.m. June 23 in the Board of Supervisors Auditorium at 197 S. Main St. in Yuma. The county’s tentative fiscal year 2026/27 budget keeps no overall increase in the county’s combined property tax rate, a point supervisors have emphasized as they try to preserve service levels and keep taxpayer costs in check.

County Administrator Ian McGaughey oversees the office coordinating those budget discussions, and the county named Lucia Gomez as budget director on June 5. The county said Gomez brings 22 years of county experience to the budget process. A county update on legislative and economic matters also identified Alejandro Figueroa as director of economic development and intergovernmental affairs, underscoring how the spending-limit debate is tied to projects the county is advancing in Washington, D.C., and to broader regional economic work through the Greater Yuma Economic Development Corporation. That effort is aimed at keeping Yuma County competitive in manufacturing, logistics, aerospace, ag-tech and food processing while supervisors decide how much fiscal room the county will need for the years ahead.