Many speculate that the reason Pima County Administrator Chuck Huckelberry grabs up as much open land as he can is to grab up as much ground water as he can. Since no one has ever bothered to actually prove that – it remains just a myth, BUT it wouldn’t surprise anyone if it were true. It would be foolhardy to underestimate Chuck Huckelberry and his team of supervisor sock puppets: Richard Elias, Sharon Bronson, Ramon Valadez, and Ray Carroll….
If Pima County Administrator Chuck Huckelberry gets his way, County residents will have had their taxes raised 28 percent in the past 3 years. Huckelberry is asking the Pima County Supervisors to approve his plan next month.
That plan includes an increase of the primary property tax rate about $.11 per $100 assessed value, an increase of about $.06 in the library district tax, and a $.01 increase in the flood control district tax.
Huckelberry acknowledges that Pima County already has a very high property tax, but continues to buy up expanse of “open space” which results in taking that land off the tax rolls, forcing other properties’ tax burden up.
In a memo dated April 30, Huckelberry writes, “Like all governments in Arizona, Pima County has necessarily adjusted to reduced revenues and increased service demands during the economic recession. More than seven years ago, at the beginning of the recession, Pima County began taking actions in response to declining resources and an increasingly uncertain operating environment. Department and agency budgets have been incrementally reduced over time… The cumulative effect of these departmental budget reductions has been substantial. General Fund supported departments have been reduced 11.5 percent, except the Sheriff’s Office, which was reduced only 2.5 percent. In addition to these reductions, departments were required to absorb the impact of salary increases awarded by the Board of Supervisors in FY 2015.”
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