By
Howard
Fischer
Capitol
Media
Services
04/23/2005
PHOENIX
--
Gov.
Janet
Napolitano
vetoed
two
related
bills
Friday
designed
to
restrict
the
ability
of
some
school
districts
to
increase
their
taxes.
One
measure
says
the
primary
property
tax
rate
cannot
exceed
$4.26
in
elementary
or
high
school
districts
and
double
that
for
unified
school
districts.
But
HB
2143
is
written
in a
way
to
apply
largely
to
districts
located
in
counties
with
low
property
valuations.
"Imposing
this
type
of
cap
on
school
district
tax
rates
would
involve
an
inappropriate
intrusion
on
local
government,"
the
governor
wrote.
"Absent
financial
abuses
or
constitutional
violations,
school
district
governing
boards
should
generally
have
the
ability
to
set
their
own
budget
priorities,
and
be
held
accountable
by
the
local
populations
whom
they
are
elected
to
represent."
Rep.
Steve
Huffman,
R-Tucson,
said
the
legislation
"didn't
take
away
one
penny."
He
said
it
simply
prevented
the
districts
from
making
the
situation
worse.
"Just
because
they
can
raise
taxes
doesn't
mean
they
should,"
he
said.
The
other
measure,
HB
2498,
would
have
frozen
speeding
on
programs
designed
to
comply
with
federal
court
orders
or
agreements
with
the
U.S.
Department
of
Education
to
eliminate
segregation
and
its
effects.
Napolitano
said
that
is a
flawed
proposal,
placing
an
artificial
cap
on
spending
by
affected
school
districts
"that
entirely
fails
to
account
for
student
growth
within
those
districts."
Huffman
said
affected
districts
could
have
asked
the
Legislature
to
have
the
state
pick
up
excess
costs.
He
said
that
would
let
lawmakers
determine
if
the
spending
really
is
necessary
to
meet
a
district's
legal
obligations.
He
also
said
the
lack
of
hard
caps
on
desegregation
expenses
financially
rewards
the
districts
that
broke
the
law
in
the
first
place.
But
Sam
Polito,
who
lobbies
on
behalf
of
several
Southern
Arizona
school
districts,
said
the
measure
would
have
left
the
affected
districts
at
the
mercy
of
the
political
process
at
the
Capitol.
He
said
if
lawmakers
refused
to
provide
the
funds
it is
the
students
--
and
not
the
administration
--
that
would
be
hurt.
Napolitano's
vetoes
are a
relief
for
the
more
than
two
dozen
school
districts
throughout
the
state
which
would
have
been
affected.
At
the
heart
of
both
issues
are
provisions
in
state
law
permitting
school
districts
to
impose
tax
rates
higher
than
otherwise
allowed.
One
of
those
exceptions
applies
to
school
districts
which
have
a
history
of
discrimination.
That
can
involve
anything
from
concentrating
minority
students
only
in
certain
schools
to
practices
that
result
in
inadequate
funding
for
students
who
need
additional
instruction
in
English.
But
a
1980
constitutional
provision
designed
to
protect
homeowners
limits
the
combined
primary
tax
levy
to no
more
than
$10
per
$100
of
assessed
valuation.
That
includes
not
just
the
school
tax
but
also
what's
imposed
by
the
city,
county
and
community
college.
Businesses,
however,
have
no
such
protection,
which
is
why
the
Arizona
Tax
Research
Association,
which
lobbies
on
behalf
of
many
of
the
state's
major
corporations,
fought
for
the
change
in
law.
And
what
schools
can't
raise
from
their
homeowners
is
paid
by
taxpayers
from
throughout
the
state.
That
same
situation
exists
in
some
other
school
districts
which
are
not
subject
to
desegregation
orders.
But
they
are
property
"poor"
school
districts,
where
the
normal
tax
rate
is
insufficient
to
raise
the
money
needed.
Napolitano
said
the
limits
proposed
by
lawmakers
made
no
sense.
"By
capping
the
property
tax
rates
that
these
districts
can
assess,
the
Legislature
would
have
effectively
eliminated
their
ability
to
better
invest
in
education
for
their
children,"
she
wrote.
Napolitano
also
said
it
might
be
illegal
because
it
would
exacerbate
the
discrepancies
in
per-student
spending
among
the
high
and
low
property
wealth
districts.
That,
she
said,
would
run
afoul
of
constitutional
provisions
requiring
the
state
to
maintain
a
"general
and
uniform
system"
of
education
funding.
She
also
said
federal
judges
would
not
take
kindly
to
the
desegregation
funding
measure.
"We
should
not
be
passing
laws
that
will
lead
to
even
more
litigation
against
the
state
and
its
school
districts,"
Napolitano
wrote.
-30-
School
districts
under
either
court
orders
or
compliance
agreements
with
the
Office
of
Civil
Rights
to
resolve
desegregation
issues
that
would
have
been
affected
by HB
2498:
Agua
Fria
Union
Amphitheater
Unified
Buckeye
Elementary
Cartwright
Elementary
Douglas
Unified
Flagstaff
Unified
Glendale
Elementary*
Glendale
Union
Holbrook
Unified
Isaac
Elementary
Maricopa
Unified
Mesa
Unified
Phoenix
Elementary
Phoenix
Union
Roosevelt
Elementary
Scottsdale
Unified
Tempe
Elementary
Tucson
Unified
Washington
Elementary
Wilson
Elementary
Window
Rock
Unified
*District
does
not
levy
an
additional
tax
for
desegregation
expenses
--
Source:
Arizona
Department
of
Education
School
districts
that
would
be
affected
by HB
2143
setting
a
maximum
tax
rate:
Ash
Creek
Elementary
Bowie
Unified
Combs
Elementary
Eloy
Elementary
Globe
Unified
Hayden-Winkelman
Unified
Maricopa
Unified
McNeal
Elementary
Paloma
Elementary
Picacho
Elementary
San
Simon
Unified
Sonoita
Elementary
Tucson
Unified
Picacho
Elementary
--
Source:
Legislative
research
staff
