http://www.azcentral.com/story/opinion/op-ed/laurieroberts/2017/02/14/r…

Stop me if you’ve heard this one before.

The Arizona Coyotes want a couple of hundred million dollars in tax subsidies in order to build themselves a shiny new hockey arena.

http://www.azcentral.com/story/opinion/op-ed/robertrobb/2017/02/06/ariz…

I favor a consumption tax increase to substantially increase K-12 education funding.

However, the progress, or lack thereof, on that front shouldn’t paralyze debate and action on the school finance formula as it is, fixing things that don’t make sense.

http://www.azcentral.com/story/news/politics/arizona-education/2017/02/…

Redeem Robinson approached the podium and urged state lawmakers to stop legislation he said jeopardized the $211 million some schools get each year.

http://www.wmicentral.com/news_premium/county-was-alerted-about-tax-err…

APACHE COUNTY — An email thread that included representatives of the treasurer’s and assessor’s offices revealed that officials were notified of an error in tax billing over a month before more than 33,000 incorrect bills were mailed out.

A leading commercial real estate group is easing its opposition to a proposed new arena the Arizona Coyotes want to build in Tempe next to Arizona State University.

NAIOP Arizona has changed its position on the proposed $400 million Coyotes arena from opposed to neutral, said Tim Lawless, president of the arm of the national commercial real estate group.

PHOENIX (KPHO/KTVK) -
The Phoenix City Council recently voted to raise property taxes for the first time in 21 years, in an effort to round out the budget.

But some saw the move as an example of balancing city's books on the backs of small businesses while handing out big breaks for larger companies.

"It's amazing that they can get away with that," said Micky Hermes, the manager of the Auto Shop near downtown Phoenix.

Wayne Rainey thinks his property taxes are too high.

As MonOrchid’s owner, he estimated that property taxes are the second or third largest expense associated with running the art gallery. Elsewhere in downtown, large-scale projects have been given a tax incentive that significantly reduces their property taxes in an effort to promote redevelopment. However, Rainey could not get that incentive because of the costs associated with its approval process.

Biotech seed giant Monsanto and Pima County are negotiating a possible incentive package that would substantially reduce the property tax burden of a planned Monsanto greenhouse in the Avra Valley.

The basis on which the greenhouse parcel’s tax bill is determined would be reduced by two-thirds under the proposal.

Pima County will recoup some legal fees and can rest easy that the state will not appeal a Maricopa County Superior Court judge’s May ruling that freed the county of a nearly $16 million liability.

Those are some of the terms of a settlement recently reached between the state and county, ending a legal battle over how to handle situations in which homeowners are assessed primary property taxes that exceed 1 percent of their property’s value. The settlement was approved by the defendants this week and will be considered by the Board of Supervisors at its regular meeting Monday.

The Phoenix City Council voted 5-4 Friday to raise property taxes.

The move was supported by politically powerful police and fire unions, arts and social service advocates and Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton.

Council members Laura Pastor, Danny Valenzuela, Michael Nowakowski and Thelda Williams also voted for the property tax hike as part of city budget and spending plans.

The Associated Press reports the average homeowner will pay $51 more per year in city property taxes and it’s the first increase to the levy in two decades.