End of 1 percent cap pressuring Pinal taxpayers
By Brian Wright | San Tan Valley Sentinel
It’s complicated. It’s uncertain. It’s frustrating. Those are refrains commonly heard from city and county leaders in Pinal County regarding what Gov. Doug Ducey and the state Legislature have done in shifting millions in tax burdens to local taxing authorities.
In 1980, the Legislature put a measure to voters that would cap property taxes; it passed. That law mandated homeowners were limited to paying no more than 1 percent of a property’s limited cash value. For example, all primary taxes were not allowed to be more than $10 per $100 of assessed value.
Anything that exceeded $10 would be paid for by the state. Ducey and the Legislature decided to eliminate that cap, which basically passes that additional tax burden to cities and counties.
Currently, that affects just two counties, Pima and Pinal. Pima is staring at paying $18.4 million, while Pinal is faced with paying $7.6 million – money needed by local school districts.
Pima County filed a lawsuit last Monday with the Arizona Supreme Court that asks the court to block implementation of the plan. Pinal County followed by filing a “friend of the court” brief via the County Supervisors Association that basically says Pinal agrees with Pima’s action.
“We’re supporting it, in a way,” said Joe Pyritz, spokesman for Pinal County.
