PHOENIX — Kevin McCarthy and Lynne Weaver agree on pretty much only one thing about Proposition 117: There is nothing in the constitutional language that forces down property taxes.

In fact, there's nothing there that precludes tax hikes — again, legally.

But McCarthy, president of the business-oriented Arizona Tax Research Association, said it will do that, if for no other reason than politics: Elected officials are afraid of angering voters.

Weaver, who is trying to get an actual property tax cap enacted, disagrees.

What we're looking at
The Yes on 117 Campaign issued a media release stating that all the contributions that the Truth and Concerns on Prop 117 group has received have been from property-tax consulting firms.

The comment
"All of the (Truth and Concerns on Prop 117) contributions that were finally reported today are from the property-tax consultants."

The forum
A media release issued Oct. 25, 2012, by the Yes on 117 Campaign.

Analysis

Voters in a dozen states will weigh in on ballot measures Tuesday that could bring significant changes to tax and revenue policy in those states.

Overall, there are 32 tax and revenue ballot measures across the country, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Of those, 18 represent significant tax measures. Some propose tax increases while others limit taxes or address property assessments.

Various factors have caused the tax rate in the Gilbert Public Schools district to jump 40 percent this year, the highest increase in at least 30 years.

Despite the jump, district officials assert that the actual total tax rate of $7.20 per $100 of assessed valuation is $3 less than the highest rates in 1995 and 1997, when the rates were between $10.45 and $10.40 per $100 of assessed valuation, respectively. The rate increase affects property owners in those portions of Gilbert and Mesa that are within the district's boundaries.

A proposal that seeks to prevent wild swings in property tax bills is encountering a late surge of opposition from tax consultants, who argue it would create inequities among property owners.



Some quarters of the Republican Party are also convinced it won’t do enough to stop tax hikes. And at times, legislative leaders have had to aggressively counter some grassroots activists from directly undercutting the measure.

Arizona has one of the most complex and confusing property-tax systems in the country. We are also subject to rapidly changing property values, which can cause dramatic tax increases for taxpayers and instability in tax revenue for local governments.

Proposition 117 gives Arizona's voters a chance to clean up our property-tax system, making it more fair for taxpayers and more predictable for local governments.

Critics of the state’s 1-cent sales tax initiative argued today that its passage would make it all but impossible to simplify the state’s sales tax code.

That means losing out on the chance to tax Internet sales, said Kevin McCarthy, president of the Arizona Tax Research Association, which is opposed to Proposition 204.

But the chairwoman of Quality Jobs and Education, the group behind the ballot measure, said nothing prevents lawmakers from going after Internet sales taxes or broadening the sales tax base.

I used to be a purist when it comes to property taxation. All property should be on the rolls at its market value. That's the only way to ensure an equitable distribution of the tax burden.

I scoffed at those who wanted to limit the increase in property values, equating that to increases in taxation. Values are just about distributing the burden, I would confidently assert. The size of the burden is determined by spending decisions and property-tax rates. Concentrate on controlling them.

The coalition organizing against a new sales tax initiative is far cry from the anemic opposition to Proposition 100 two years ago.

Some of the key figures from the yes-on-100 effort are now in the opposition camp for Proposition 204. Even Gov. Jan Brewer, who lined up many of Arizona’s biggest interest groups behind her temporary sales tax hike and brought in millions of dollars to pass it in a May 2010 special election, stands against the proposal to make the 1-cent tax increase permanent.

Editor:

A letter to the editor by Jeff Nolan was recently published describing his opposition to Prop 117. It's interesting that Mr. Nolan did not disclose in his letter that he is a property tax consultant in the Phoenix area.