The Secretary of State today rejected the signatures of more than 290,000 voters who signed petitions to let the public decide in November whether the state’s sales tax should be increased by one cent to pay for education and construction projects.

In a letter to the Quality Education and Jobs Committee, which is backing the initiative drive, Secretary of State Ken Bennett said its petition sheets weren’t attached to a full and correct copy of the initiative that was earlier filed with the state election office, as required by state law.

The already simmering battle over a permanent sales-tax increase heated up a few degrees Monday as supporters filed petitions to put the matter on the November ballot.
Backers of the Quality Education and Jobs initiative filed the signatures of more than 290,000 registered voters with the Arizona secretary of state. But whether the measure to permanently increase the state sales tax by 1 cent per dollar will get before voters remains unclear.

Even before any petitions have been filed, a legal fight is brewing over a proposed sales-tax hike for education.

Critics of the proposal for a permanent 1-cent-per-dollar increase in the tax noticed the petition being circulated to voters is different from the official version pre-filed earlier this year with the Arizona Secretary of State's Office.

That could bar Secretary of State Ken Bennett from accepting the petitions that the Quality Education & Jobs backers are preparing to file, Bennett spokesman Matt Roberts said.

An error by backers of a permanent one-cent hike in the state sales tax for education and public works projects could keep voters from getting a chance to decide the measure in November.

Ann-Eve Pedersen, organizer of the measure, admitted Tuesday that the paper version of the initiative pre-filed with the Secretary of State’s Office, as required by law, is different than the one being circulated on the street. Those are the petitions she intends to file next week.

But Matt Roberts, a spokesman for Secretary of State Ken Bennett, said his boss intends to turn her away.

A possible mistake in the ballot language for the Quality Education and Jobs initiative could keep the proposed one-cent sales tax increase off the ballot in November.

The Arizona Tax Research Association, a prominent critic of the initiative, said they discovered a potential major flaw in the campaign’s signature-gathering efforts.

The Quality Education and Jobs campaign may have been collecting signatures on petition sheets using ballot language that is different than the version that was filed with the Secretary of State’s Office.

See the two versions

A coalition headed by an influential fiscal policy think tank submitted paperwork today to launch a campaign in support of a ballot measure that caps the growth of property values in Arizona.

The campaign, called “Yes on 117,” is headed by Kevin McCarthy, who is president of the Arizona Tax Research Association.

The campaign group’s treasurer is Bas Aja, a lobbyist for the Arizona Cattlemen’s Association.

The issue of whether Amazon.com should be required to collect tax on online sales to Arizonans isn't going away.

State legislators during their 2012 regular session considered but ultimately shelved proposals to force the Seattle-based online retailer to collect tax on its sales in Arizona.

But the issue is expected to resurface publicly in coming months when a newly appointed state task force considers making recommendations for legislative action on improving Arizona's sales-tax system.

Gov. Jan Brewer this week named a dozen people to a task force that will figure out how to make Arizona's sales-tax code simpler both for those paying it and those collecting it.

The governor created the task force last month with an executive order, saying the state's sales tax is overly complex to administer. But it's also a crucial part of state operations; about half of Arizona's operating dollars comes from the tax.

Brewer has set a Dec. 31 deadline for the group to do its work and submit a report.

PHOENIX – Governor Jan Brewer today appointed members to the Transaction Privilege Tax (TPT)
Simplification Task Force.

The panel, consisting of tax experts, business owners, municipal representatives and others, has been
asked to issue recommendations on how the Arizona sales tax code can be made simpler and easier for
taxpayers to comply with and the State to administer. Arizona’s sales tax system is generally considered
among the nation’s most complex.

The TPT Task Force was established through an Executive Order issued May 11, 2012, the same day

WASHINGTON – Vans Trading Co. has been around since 1946, but it’s only in the last decade that customers at the Tuba City general store have yelled at the cashiers after they get their receipts.

That’s because Vans is in the town with the highest sales tax in the nation and the town, in turn, is in the state with the second-highest combined sales tax burden in the nation, according to two recent reports.

“After we ring up the total in the product and the tax comes up, they’re not happy with it,” said Vans owner Lucky Mokhcia. “But I tell them I have no control over that.