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With one Coconino County secondary tax rate increasing, two other secondary rates remaining the same and the primary tax rate decreasing, the Coconino County Board of Supervisors will hold four truth in taxation public hearings on Tuesday night.

In total, the four tax rates will equate to a total increase of approximately $7.68 per $100,000 of the taxable value for the average property in the county compared to the 2025 fiscal year. Based on a sample property with a Zillow listing of $732,000, the Coconino County Assessor’s Office assigned a full cash value of $487,415 with a limited property value of $308,100. The limited property value, also described as the taxable value, is then converted into an assessed value based on a percentage ratio. For residential property, the 10% ratio would bring the assessed value to $30,810 before being multiplied by the total tax rate of 1.5486%. As a result, the tax levy for the example property in the 2026 fiscal year equals an annual total of $477 annually, up from $454 in 2025 fiscal year.

The increase is partially due to the rising assessed valuation of property in Coconino County, in addition to the proposed increase in tax rate for the county’s Library District. While Arizona law allows counties to increase their collection of primary property taxes by 2% each year, a more than 4% rise in taxable value means the county’s primary property tax rate will drop for the new fiscal year despite the increase in collections by the county.

“Our tax rate has decreased 2.3%, and the collections from last year have increased 2%,� said Coconino County manager Andy Bertelsen, with the county’s notice proposing an increase in primary property taxes of $228,019. “The total collections for property taxes are about $11 million. My recommendation to the Board of Supervisors is to approve a budget for $433 million, so property taxes are a pretty small amount of that. ...This is revenue generation, but we use those funds to leverage other funding sources like state and federal funding.�

Bertelsen added that he believes 11 of the 15 counties in Arizona are conducting similar increases, including the neighboring counties of Mohave and Yavapai.

“The board does not control property values, but as the economy grows, property values increase,� Mohave County’s truth in taxation notice read. “Even when tax levy rates do not increase, some property owners may pay more in taxes as a result of increasing values.�

According to the truth in taxation notices posted by those two counties, Yavapai will be increasing its primary property tax collection on $100,000 of taxable value from $159.01 to $164.43 for a total of $2,133,478 and Mohave will be increasing its collection on $100,000 of taxable value from $169.66 to $181.47 for a total of $3,138,184.

“If in fact, we did not utilize the 2% levy, then this would really be a problem,� said Patrice Horstman, District 1 Supervisor and Chair of the Board. “It is standard operating procedure for the counties all across the state because they have got to continue existing services. This isn’t for new programs. If we didn’t for a year, we would lose it forever.�

Similarly, both the Public Health Services District and the Flood Control District remain at the same secondary tax rates, but the county’s collection is increasing due to the taxable value’s increase since the past fiscal year.

Coconino County does plan to increase the tax rate for the Library District, now collecting a total of $31.56 per $100,000 of taxable value from the $28.31 per $100,000 of taxable value it would have without the increase. Part of the increase is intended to assist in the district’s plan to replace its aging Bookmobile, which is nearing 20 years on the road. The county board discussed options for replacing the Bookmobile, which travels across the county offering books, movies and other library materials to residents who may otherwise be unable to access them, in late April just before discussions on the 2026 fiscal year budget began.

“It maintains the Bookmobile service and allows us to avoid service reductions. Those types of vehicles are expensive and it’s in need of replacement,� Bertelsen said.

Two different replacement options were discussed, with one priced around $400,000 and the other around $550,000. According to Coconino County, the increased rate of the Library District’s secondary property tax will equate to the collection of $780,067 for the 2026 fiscal year.

“There has been no increase in the library district for over a decade,� Horstman said. “Our library services across Coconino County include Forest Lakes, Tuba City, Grand Canyon, Supai, Page, all kinds of different places and people are using it more and more.�

The board’s public hearings on the proposed tax increases are scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. on Tuesday at the Coconino County administration building at 219 E. Cherry Ave. in Flagstaff.