An Arizona Tax Research Association (ATRA) analysis of 2003 state and local property taxes found that taxes climbed $334.4 million, shattering the previous record for one-year growth of $289 million set in 2000. The 7.6% increase in levies was driven primarily by a 10.4% increase in property values.

The Arizona Tax Research Association (ATRA) Board of Directors voted at its June meeting to oppose the so-called “Quality Jobs and Education” initiative that is currently being circulated for qualification for the November general election ballot.

Maricopa County Treasurer Hos Hoskins used the taxpayer funded mailing of the 2015 property tax bills to attack state policymakers and ATRA for a series of property tax reform measures dating back to 1980. In addition to being an extraordinary abuse of taxpayer funds, this reckless attack is full of inaccuracies
and intentionally ignores key points in a clear attempt to distort the truth.
 

Maricopa County Treasurer Hos Hoskins used the taxpayer funded mailing of the 2015 property tax bills to attack state policymakers and ATRA for a series of property tax reform measures dating back to 1980. In addition to being an extraordinary abuse of taxpayer funds, this reckless attack is full of inaccuracies
and intentionally ignores key points in a clear attempt to distort the truth. In an effort to respond in a timely manner, this memo will attempt to address just the major inaccuracies in his letter. 

Many Maricopa County lawmakers have been asking for information regarding tax rate changes in their respective districts in order to respond to their constituents' questions resulting from the Maricopa County Treasurer Hos Hoskins' letter to homeowners blaming the State Legislature and the Arizona Tax Research Association for any tax increases in those bills. 

Dubbed the “Clean Energy for a Healthy Arizona Amendment,” this measure will require affected Arizona utilities provide at least 50% of their annual retail sales of electricity from renewable energy sources by 2030. The initiative will have a profound impact on the capital investment and production costs for Arizona utilities which will require significant rate increases on customers.

The State of Arizona recently responded to demands for higher teacher pay with a plan to increase base K-12 funding to provide a 20% teacher pay increase by the fall of 2020. ATRA analyzed Arizona teacher pay earlier this year, providing relevant facts and context to the policy issue. With this dramatic taxpayer investment, Arizona’s relative teacher pay ranking shifts considerably. This release also highlights conclusions from our K-12 funding studies.

In July, the Arizona Tax Court ruled against Pinal County in the Goldwater Institute’s challenge of Pinal’s transportation sales tax. As you know, ATRA was directly involved in this issue from the outset and informed Pinal County officials at their budget meeting on June 20, 2017 that ATRA had significant legal concerns regarding their proposal.

Repealing Bracket Indexing is a $1.25 Billion Income Tax Increase over 10 years on all Arizonans