'Yes' on Prop. 411 leading in early results in San Tan Valley

Early results show San Tan Valley voters approving Proposition 411, which will decide whether to raise the town’s annual budget ceiling to $850 million.

With the polls just closed, current vote tallies show residents voting in favor of Prop. 411 by 69.9% to 30%.

The state’s constitution imposes an expenditure limitation on all Arizona cities and towns based on a formula adopted by the State Legislature in 1979-80. The formula determines the amount of money that can be used to fund municipal services each year, regardless of the money the town collects.

The base formula is adjusted every year for population and inflation.

San Tan Valley’s current base is more than $23.5 million. A “yes” vote on Prop. 411 would increase that base to more than $207.5 million in 1979-80 dollars. Adjusted to today’s dollars, that would provide the town with an expenditure limit of $850 million for the 2027-28 fiscal year.

Without the base adjustment, residents could later opt for home rule, which requires a vote every four years to override the base limit. In 2022, residents in Queen Creek voted to replace home rule with a permanent base adjustment.

In 2022, Florence voters also approved a permanent base adjustment. Florence voters had turned down home rule in past elections, meaning that the town had to hold elections every time it needed to buy an item that caused the budget to exceed the expenditure limitation, regardless of whether Florence had the money on hand.

“This is $850 million. That will be for the foreseeable future. We’re not going to spend $850 million. We’re not even going to collect $850 million. But it’s something we don’t have to do every four years and gear up every three years to have an election on it,” Mayor Darren Schnepf said during a council meeting in September.

Janet Perez can be reached at jperez@iniusa.org. Please send your comments about this article to AzOpinions@iniusa.org. We are committed to publishing a wide variety of reader opinions, as long as they meet our Civility Guidelines.