Election: November 3, 2026 General Election.  Paid for by StopTheJailTax PAC. Phone 928-275-1460.

What Proposition 497 proposes

Yavapai County’s official ballot description says the proposal would add one-quarter cent ($0.0025) per dollar to the existing Jail District excise (sales) tax. The Jail District component would rise from ¼ cent to ½ cent per dollar on taxable purchases. This doubles that component, not necessarily the total sales-tax rate paid on a purchase.

What the added tax looks like

Taxable purchases Additional Jail District tax
$100 $0.25
$500 $1.25
$1,000 $2.50
$5,000 $12.50

Examples assume the stated purchase amount is fully taxable and illustrate only the proposed additional quarter-cent tax. Actual liability depends on the applicable tax rules and taxable items.

Timing and duration

The official ballot description states that, if approved, the increase would take effect July 1, 2027, and continue for 20 years.

The County’s published financial estimates

  • $41.44 million per year: estimated future revenue needs for the Jail District.
  • $8.88 million: the County’s stated General Fund maintenance-of-effort contribution required the following year.
  • $16.15 million: additional General Fund support the County says will be needed to pay Jail District costs.

These are figures and explanations published by the County. The ballot description does not provide a detailed year-by-year forecast covering the proposed 20-year term. Readers should not treat the estimates as an independently verified forecast of future results.

What the historical financial report shows

Yavapai County’s FY2024–25 Annual Comprehensive Financial Report records $17.131 million in total Jail District Fund revenue and $32.923 million in expenditures for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2025. Expenditures exceeded revenue by $15.792 million before transfers and other financing items. The schedule records $17.814 million in transfers in from the County General Fund, $4.313 million in transfers out, and an ending fund balance of $945,559.

Those figures describe one completed fiscal year; they are not the same thing as the County’s future $41.44 million estimate and do not independently establish that a tax increase is the only available response.

Questions voters can reasonably ask

  • What assumptions and calculations support the $41.44 million annual future revenue estimate?
  • Where is the detailed year-by-year projection for the 20-year period?
  • How much of the projected cost relates to staffing, operations, medical and mental-health services, facilities, debt service, inflation, or population changes?
  • What funding alternatives were evaluated, and what would each mean for taxes, services, or the General Fund?
  • What public reporting and spending controls would let residents compare projections with actual outcomes?

These are requests for explanation, not allegations of wrongdoing. Where the reviewed official documents do not answer a question, this page identifies it as unresolved rather than assuming an answer.

What YES and NO mean

According to the official ballot description, a YES vote approves the additional one-quarter-cent Jail District excise tax. A NO vote rejects the proposed increase. A NO vote does not itself choose an alternative funding source or eliminate current expenses; approval does not remove the need to monitor costs and results.

Source summaries and original documents

The summaries above explain the main points in plain language. These primary sources let readers verify the original wording and figures:

Yavapai County ballot description: States the proposed tax change, start date, duration, County estimates, and formal effect of YES and NO votes.

County FY2024–25 Annual Comprehensive Financial Report: Provides the historical Jail District Fund budgetary comparison for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2025.

Arizona Citizens Clean Elections Commission: Lists Proposition 497 as a countywide local measure on the November 3, 2026 General Election ballot and summarizes election information.

Reviewed October 9, 2026. This page summarizes the official documents in plain language. If official ballot, financial, or election information is updated, the current official version controls.

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