Proposition 409 — $900 million bond for Valleywise Health — appears to be passing

A ballot measure to boost funding for Valleywise Health — Maricopa County’s publicly-funded hospital system — appears to be passing based on early results from Tuesday’s election.

As of Wednesday morning, nearly 51% of votes counted in Maricopa County so far have been in favor of Proposition 409, an $898 million in bond to upgrade Valleywise facilities and expand services.

The average Maricopa County homeowner would pay about $29 more per year in property taxes to cover the costs of the bond over the next 30 years, according to the Prop. 409 campaign.

Prop. 409’s proponents said the most critical investment would be a renovation to double the capacity of the nearly 50-year-old behavioral health center on the Valleywise downtown campus. Valleywise is the only provider of court-ordered mental health evaluations in the county, but hospital leadership said these behavioral health patients have been facing wait-lists for treatment.

More than 80 Arizonans submitted letters of support for Prop. 409 in the voter pamphlet. The list included prominent Arizona Republicans like former Govs. Doug Ducey and Jan Brewer alongside Democrats like U.S. Sens. Ruben Gallego and Mark Kelly.

There was no organized opposition to Prop. 409.

Valleywise last sought bond approval from voters in 2014. That proposition passed with 63% of the vote and paid for $935 million in renovations for the main Valleywise hospital building.