Flags for Arizona and the United States wave in the wind outside the Cochise County Jail.
Cochise County needs an estimated $100 million to build a new jail, and voters will once again be asked to approve a sales tax to fund it, even though a previous tax approved in 2023 remains in effect and is still under legal challenge.
The County’s Board of Supervisors voted this week to restart the process for a new half cent sales tax election to be scheduled for November 4 of this year.
However, voters already approved the 25 year sales tax in 2023, and a lawsuit alleging that election was invalid has traced a complicated path through the court system.
The Board reached a settlement in the case, headed by plaintiff Daniel LaChance against them and the Jail District, at a special meeting March 21.
According to District 3 Supervisor Frank Antenori, two key terms of the settlement are to hold a new election and to pause collection of the existing tax once a motion to dismiss the lawsuit is finalized. That motion is currently awaiting approval from an Apache County Superior Court judge.
“We're waiting on a ruling from a superior court judge on the settlement to see if he's willing to accept the settlement. So upon that ruling, we will either suspend or not suspend the sales tax,” he said.
An appeals court affirmed one of LaChance’s three claims about the election, that around 10,000 voters had been disenfranchised because of how it was conducted.
The past Board, including former Supervisors Ann English and Peggy Judd, and current Supervisor Tom Crosby, authorized an all mail election, which according to state law means only active registered voters receive a ballot.
The suit against English, Judd, and Crosby claims the 10,000 people never received a ballot by mail because of their classification as inactive registered voters, which can happen when people don't usually vote by mail, or the County Recorder’s office has had a past issue with delivering a ballot or election materials.
Antenori said a significant number of Cochise County voters only vote in person, and they weren’t informed they had to request a ballot.
“On that inactive voter list, even though they are registered voters under statute, they were not given an opportunity to request a ballot either, nor were they given an opportunity to vote in person at a polling place because the county didn't open any,” he said.
Antenori said the upcoming election will be done differently.
“We are going to both notify the inactive voter list and have several in person voting polling places open, voting centers open for people to vote on Election Day. So that will be the big difference,” he said.
According to Antenori, part of the settlement with LaChance involves formally accepting the election was done improperly.
“In our opinion, the new board determined that it would have had an impact on the election, and it was done improperly, and any election that's done improperly should be redone to affirm the will of the voters correctly,” said Antenori.
A remaining question is what will happen to the at least $9 million the tax has collected from January 2024 to whenever it is officially paused.
If the sales tax fails in the second election, Antenori said residents could be asked to vote on what happens to the existing money. Other options include surrendering the money to the state, issuing property tax rebates, or refunding it via sales receipts.
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