Voters across Maricopa County will decide on the Nov. 3 ballot whether to keep a countywide sales tax that pays for jails and related services. Queen Creek lies mostly in Maricopa County, with a smaller part in Pinal County, so most of the town's voters will see the question.
Proposition 413 would extend the county's jail excise tax, a levy of one-fifth of a cent per dollar of taxable retail sales (0.2%), for up to 20 more years. Voters first approved the tax in 1998 and renewed it in 2002. It is set to end in March 2027.
What a yes or no vote means
A yes vote keeps the tax after March 2027 for up to 20 years, which the Arizona Republic reported would carry it through 2047. A no vote lets it expire in March 2027.
The 2025 state law that allowed the election, Senate Bill 1144, lets the Board of Supervisors lower the rate by resolution during the term. If voters do not approve an extension before Jan. 1, 2028, the county's authority to seek one ends.
What the money can pay for
The law limits the revenue to building or renovating adult and juvenile jail facilities, running and maintaining them, and programs meant to reduce their cost. The county must also keep contributing its own general fund money to jails each year, adjusted for inflation.
According to county figures cited by the Republic, the tax has also supported adult and juvenile probation and correctional health care. About 54% of past spending went to adult correctional services and nearly 16% to correctional health services.
How much it raises
The tax brought in more than $3.25 billion from March 2007 through November 2025, the Republic reported. The county projects about $313 million in the first full year of an extension, July 2027 through June 2028, with yearly growth of about 4.7%. A legislative fiscal note estimated the county would lose $323.9 million in fiscal 2028 if the tax lapsed.
