ATRA in the News: 2008
According to figures provided by the Arizona Tax Research Association, statewide property-tax collections have been increasing over 7 percent a year over the past four years. Filling the state's $1.2 billion deficit would require an 18 percent increase in the overall property-tax bill. That's no more politically palatable than increases in other taxes.
A business-backed advocacy group, the Arizona Tax Research Association, reports that the statewide average fell from $10.04 per $100 of assessed valuation in 2007 to $9.23 in 2008. The association says one factor behind the decrease is a state requirement to lower tax rates to offset valuation increases.
Kevin McCarthy, president of the Arizona Tax Research Association, said the agreement over the tax in 2006 helped head off proposed ballot initiatives on taxes that would have done “huge damage to our overall public finance system and the property tax system directly.”
"Our Constitution never contemplated this level of citizen initiatives with regard to public finance," said McCarthy, executive director of the Arizona Tax Research Association, which has endorsed Prop. 105.
“By virtue of a property not being on tax rolls, it means the state has to put in a considerable amount more of state aid in the school district,” McCarthy said. “So Arizona has a major interest in the exemption because it costs the state in their general fund so that the school districts get to spend on their budget limit.”
The reductions in Maricopa County property tax rates, as reported Aug. 19 in the Tribune, provide some good news for property taxpayers. Yet, as school district property taxes are affected not only by the school districts but also by the districts’ voters and the state Legislature
Ideally, when the state budget is passed each year, lawmakers and the governor can breathe a sigh of relief that the year's finance issues have been tackled. Sadly, instead of tackling those problems, the fiscal 2009 budget punted them to future policymakers.
"What bothered us was when we found out what the districts were doing — I think largely led by La Cañada — to leverage a dramatic increase in the fire district assistance tax by a huge tax increase that they're planning for this year," McCarthy said.
"The Arizona Tax Research Association and 4 other groups June 26 called on legislators to "sine die as soon as possible before any more damage is done. " Our reporter at the time was not able to get in touch with ATRA director Kevin McCarthy for an explanation.
"Property taxes are largely a zero-sum game," McCarthy said. Because most levels of government decide how much they are entitled to raise, that means if one company pays less, the difference is borne by everyone else. In the end, ATRA's position won out and the legislation died.
The budget also increases the state surcharge for defensive driving classes by $45 and allows various court systems to boost fees, said Kevin McCarthy, president of the Arizona Tax Research Association.
The rate of $3.44 per $100,000 in assessed value is the maximum the county can assess by law, said Jennifer Schuldt, vice president of the Arizona Tax Research Association. "They can't go above that," she said. "They are required to drop it. Some of the counties try to take credit for it when they are required to do so."
people don't keep track of what they spend annually in sales tax, said Kevin McCarthy, executive director of the Arizona Tax Research Association. "If geeks like me don't know how much I paid in sales tax, no one does," he said.
If lawmakers want to provide a broad-based stimulus, they should revisit their plans to eliminate the state's education-equalization property tax, said Kevin McCarthy, executive director of the Arizona Tax Research Association.
But Kevin McCarthy with the Arizona Tax Research Association said the town is increasing taxes by allowing the town's total assessed valuation to climb without decreasing the tax rate. He said Queen Creek taxpayers are facing "a pretty extraordinary increase."
The Arizona Tax Research Association did a calculation based upon the ALEC data. It found that Arizona actually spends right at the national median in classroom expenditures. We just have more students in the classrooms.
The Arizona Tax Research Association, which is pushing for the legislation, has been seeking reform in the area of secondary levies.
"According to the business-backed Arizona Tax Research Association, savings from the repeal would be split roughly 50-50 between owner-occupied homes and all other types of property. The largest individual benefactors of the repeal would be businesses that own major properties, such as utilities.
"According to the business-backed Arizona Tax Research Association, savings from the repeal would be split roughly 50-50 between owner-occupied homes and all other types of property. The largest individual benefactors of the repeal would be businesses that own major properties, such as utilities.
"In defense of the local governments in Arizona, they've not done what other states have done, " said Kevin McCarthy of the Arizona Tax Research Association.
The business-backed Arizona Tax Research Association on Tuesday released figures showing roughly a 50-50 split between savings for owner-occupied homes and all other types of property.
• The Arizona Tax Research Association published an eye-opening report on state and local government debt last week. It now stands at $32 billion, or $5,204 per capita.
With a $1.2 billion deficit in fiscal 2008 (with only three months remaining) and a $1.9 billion deficit estimated for fiscal 2009, Arizona's state budget crisis is severe. Yet state policy makers have watched for months as the current budget deficit grows deeper, losing the opportunity to make meaningful changes this year.
These and other projects have pushed Queen Creek to the highest per-capita municipal debt load in Arizona, according to an Arizona Tax Research Association report based on data from the state Department of Revenue’s Debt Oversight Commission
"Oftentimes voters are concerned that property tax rates are going up, but oftentimes they are unaware that some of that ... is the bonds that they approved," said Justin Olson, research analyst for the tax research association.
The information is reflected in an analysis by the Department of Revenue's Debt Oversight Commission and was released Monday by the Arizona Tax Research Association. Officials from both towns and an analyst with the Arizona Tax Research Association said the rankings aren't surprising
The unprecedented valuation increases prompted my organization, the Arizona Tax Research Association (ATRA), to recommend to state lawmakers a series of reforms that focused on reducing property-tax rates to offset the valuation growth.