After hearing from an elderly Pima County resident that the County supervisors are “stealing” from residents and that increasing property taxes “hurts the poor,” the Pima County Board of Supervisors voted 3-2 to increase the taxes on the residents of the 6th poorest region in the country.
Supervisor Ally Miller called the increase a “slap in the face to Pima County employees and taxpayers. Miller said she was disappointed by the efforts of her colleagues, “This is not the time to raise any tax.”
The primary property tax rate was raised by a quarter, to $3.66. The County Manager argued that residents will save money because their property values have suffered and the decrease in home prices more than offsets the increase in property taxes.
About a dozen SIEU employees attended the meeting and questioned the fact that they had not seen promised increases in wages while the County Manager Chuck Huckelberry makes more than most of his peers.
The Sheriff’s Deputies did not ask for a raise. They simply requested the adjustments they have been denied for the last five years. They were awarded an increase in their uniform allowance.
While Pima County taxpayers pay some of the highest taxes in the state, the roads are crumbling. Miller pointed to her own district which has an estimated 71% of the roads in poor condition.
Miller told her constituents on Facebook that her “…valuation went up 10 percent for 2014. There were those whose bills went down…but a lot of us had our valuations increase. Spending increased by $33 million from last year’s budget. That is the real story.”