Newshoggers Comments
For about the last three years I've been predicting that one of the consequences of the collapse of the housing bubble will be the adverse effects on state and local revenue streams. The implications could be pretty serious if state and local government don't undertake serious reforms soon.
Unfortunately, the time to do that was in the late 1990's, not now.
Dave,
It is pointless to look back for excuses not to do something about property taxes in the future. History is important only so that going forward we improve on what has been done in the past rather than taking the easy path, copying a less than perfect fix.
I am of course referring to Prop 13 which was a big help at the time but with inflation in the real estate market driving up values shifting the tax burden onto our children and grandchildren isn't the way to go. The Arizona Tax Revolt has a much better plan and you can read about it and ask your legislators to do the same. The key is levy (property tax budget) limits for all taxing entities and a baseline valuation system where values represent the intrinsic value of the property not inflation in the real estate market.
Marc
Marc --- what constitutes "intrinsic value" other than fair market price, and why not tax inflation as on the whole inflation is something that society does not want a whole lot of, and the Econ 102 axiom of 'tax the bads, incentive the goods' applies here.
Intrinsic value is defined as the market value of the parcel in the base year 2003. All price inflation following that date has no effect on the value or your share of the tax burden. The Tax burden is limited by levy limits. (budget limits)
As you pointed out if we want changes that benefit us we need to give incentives to make it happen. We did this in a most creative way, with a levy rollback. A bigger rollback for those with bigger tax increases.
Learn more at our WEB site and get something similar going in your state!
www.ArizonaTaxRevolt.ORG
Marc
Marc, if you want to advertise, please buy a blogad. We'll let the last couple of lines of your last comment stand, but it's damn close to advertising so please, show some restraint.
Thanks and regards, Cernig
Cernig,
I apologize if posing our WEB site is in violation of any site rules. Just consider that we are a Grass Roots Non-Profit Corp. whose only purpose is to promote property tax reform in Arizona.
Marc
Hi Marc,
In the interests of informing our readers, it should be noted that others would describe your group in not so glowing terms. You certianly appear to have a deal of support amongst anti-immigration activists and other extreme Right groups.
Regards, C
Cernig,
Each issue has two sides. With 70 to 80% of Arizonans demanding that something be done to resolve the illegal alien mess we would be happy to have them all get involved in fighting for property tax reform. Our board is equally split between Democrats and Republicans which helped to assure that our plan will benefit all property owners.
Even if we differ on the immigration issue I think you will be able to recognize an excellent idea when you see it. For the last 26 years the legislature did little to avert the double digit tax increases caused by rampant inflation in the housing market, and a government that had plans for spending the windfall tax revenue.
The Tax Revolt initiatives propose a levy and valuation rollback with future limits to both. And perhaps the most significant change to property taxation since Roman times, a baseline valuation system that protects all property owners from real estate price inflation driving up their taxes.
I would encourage everyone to look more closely at these propositions and think well about this issue. Unfortunately we are being guided by rhetoric that is full of half truths and hidden agendas.
Prop 13 type legislation or tax revolt initiatives that blanket all secondary taxing agencies are irresponsible and WILL do harm, especially to those smaller special taxing districts and specifically those who have worked to be good stewards of the taxpayer’s dollar.
I work in a small fire district whose tax rate was adjusted down to account for massive increases in property assesments over the past couple of years. We stood almost alone in our efforts to combat rising tax bills for our constituants. I regret that many of our “peers” in government did not take the same approach, but we did.
As a result of our efforts we stand to lose big if these intiatives are passed. We work in a rapidly growing area where infrastructure is struggling to keep up with growth under the current tax structure. If our budget was limited to that of 2003 and further limited by 1% growth annually, we would in fact lay off firefighters and close fire stations. Even if we could survive on our 2003 budget, which isn’t a reality, we could not sustain our current workforce at 1% growth. That does not cover cost of living increases, double digit increases in healthcare costs, or increasing contributions to the state retirement system. Notice I have not even spoken about fire trucks, fire stations, or other service related expenses. If you appreciate your local fire service, you would not implement any of the propositions described thus far.
I agree that the tax burden on the average Arizonan is rising at an unspeakable rate. That said, there are already measures in place to limit fire districts specifically. Currently, fire districts are limited to a cap of $3.25 per $100.oo of secondary assesed value on residential properties. This was recently increased from $3.00 based on the fact that fire districts, and specifically smaller fire districts, could not continue to keep up with growth at the previous cap.
In addition to the tax ceiling for fire districts, they are governed by local fire boards which ARE ACCOUNTABLE TO YOU. if you are upset with the fiscal managment in your local fire district, I would encourage you to launch a recall effort on your board members and affect change locally.
It may be difficult for some of you to believe but I am a republican and a fiscal conservative. I would support limiting tax growth in areas other than public safety. If someone has the good sense to recognize the damage that this would do to small, locally controlled fire agencies, and if they had the courage to write a bill/proposition that limited our tax burden while preserving our public safety resources, I would be the first to support it. In the absence of public safety considerations however, I will not support the “tax revolt” and will encourage anyone who might r
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