Higher tax bills could soon be in the mailboxes of hundreds of thousands of Phoenix residents as the City Council prepares to vote Friday on a property-tax increase, the city's first possible rate hike in 20 years.

If approved, the increase would cost an average Phoenix homeowner about $51 more per year, or $4.25 per month, according to the city. The tax is based on property valuations from the county.

The Phoenix City Council this week started taking votes to approve a new city budget, but the fate of a proposed secondary property tax increase is less certain.

The levy would raise $37 million and would be used to make debt service payments.

We spoke with Phoenix City Manager Ed Zuercher a couple of weeks ago about that.

Some critics of that idea say the city shouldn’t be raising taxes when it has a budget surplus, while others worry about the impact on homeowners.

Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey has signed a bill exempting crop dusters and other aircraft used by farms from state sales taxes.

Ducey approved House Bill 2133 without comment Wednesday.

Arizona Tax Research Association President Kevin McCarthy said farm equipment is generally exempted from state sales taxes, but there were concerns the Arizona Department of Revenue was going to reclassify crop dusters as aircraft, which can be subject to those levies.

Jennifer Stielow, AZ I See It 4:16 p.m. MST May 5, 2016

My Turn: Phoenix leaders need to be honest with taxpayers about bonds and properties it pulled off the tax rolls.

City of Phoenix leaders are telling property taxpayers they aren’t sending enough money to City Hall. This is an ironic message from a city that has abused its tax-exempt status to shield scores of major private developments from property taxes.

If the Arizona Coyotes want lawmakers to pass legislation that will allow them to build a new publicly funded hockey arena, the team will have to find a way to overcome the Legislature’s historic opposition to the funding mechanism it hopes to use.

Despite being turned down by one key lawmaker, the Arizona Coyotes continue seeking legislation to allow creation of a municipal taxing district that would give the National Hockey League franchise a new arena, its president told The Arizona Republic.

Maricopa County Community College District students have been hit with three tuition hikes since 2012, but that hasn't stopped top system administrators from enjoying increasingly costly perks including deep-tissue massages at a four-star resort, unrestricted spending allowances of up to $32,500 a year, and vehicle stipends large enough to buy a new car annually, records obtained by The Arizona Republic show......

As government regulators and law enforcement agencies in Washington and around the country have come to recognize that some of the biggest for-profit colleges have been deceiving and abusing students, and as media reports have exposed these abuses, and as many students have started to look elsewhere for their educations, at least one State -- Arizona -- seems to remain firmly in the political clutches of for-profit schools.

When it comes to state-government finances, Republican and Democratic lawmakers agree on one thing: They hate tax credits.

You would never know by watching them.

Over the past two decades, the Legislature has created dozens of income-tax credits, starving the state's general fund of more than $400 million a year that instead goes directly to taxpayers' favorite schools, charities and business ventures.

State lawmakers may put a stop to Pima Community College’s longtime practice of overstating its enrollment to prop up its spending limit.

A bill supported by some legislators but opposed by a tax watchdog would force the school to reduce its annual spending ceiling by basing it on an average of actual enrollment instead of on estimates.