The Pima County Board of Supervisors voted on Tuesday on the tentative budget. Residents can expect to see a total County tax rate increase from $5.13 to $5.76.
The proposed average increase in primary property taxes on a hypothetical $100,000 home is approximately $51.
In the 8th poorest metropolitan area in the country, the increase is not expected to have much effect on the small percentage of affluent residents. However, many residents report that any increase will severely impact their lives.
Despite a poor economy, the County administrator Chuck Huckelberry says the increase begins to increase funding for core services. The County has tapped its cash reserves and its bond rating is at risk.
The Board similarly approved nine separate decision packages to make targeted investments in such areas as Sheriff’s services, indigent defense, road repairs and wildcat dumping enforcement.
Adoption of the tentative budget effectively set an upper “ceiling” for the budget, which caps the total budget allocation as well as the proposed property tax levy. The budget can decrease, but it will not increase. Final budget adoption is scheduled for June 17. The tax levy is scheduled to be set August 18.
Supervisors Carroll, Valadez, Elias and Bronson also voted in favor of combining the Mountain View and Rincon Valley benefit areas. The purpose of combining these areas is to utilize the almost $9 million in impact fees in the Mountain View area in order to fix Colossal Cave road, according to Supervisor Ally Miller. “I voted against this item as I believe that impact fees that residents have paid should be used to directly benefit them and not be used on a road the majority of the residents do not travel,” said Miller.
The legality of shuffling impact fees is in question. In a memo dated November 15, 2005, Huckelberry himself questioned the legality. He wrote, “Review the current established Benefit Area boundaries. Staff concludes that further legal analysis is required before any action is taken to modify the benefit area boundaries originally adopted by ordinance in 1996.” Read memo here.
Earlier this year, County staff said they intended to “obliterate” benefit area boundry lines in order to move money around to cover the costs of repairs and improvements in neighborhoods that wielded more influence with Board members.
The Southern Arizona Home Builder’s Association opposed to the impact fee shuffle. Miller says the shuffle sets a precedent that now allow the Board of Supervisors to combine impact fee areas again in the future.