On Aug. 17, the Pima County Board of Supervisors was expected to set property tax rates for all political subdivisions in Pima County, including an increase in rates within the Amphitheater School District.
At last week’s Amphitheater school board meeting, Chief Financial Officer Scott Little detailed the reasons for higher taxes, citing cost shifts from state government to the district, higher property values from two years ago that are now affecting tax bills, and a rise in delinquent taxes.
“Some taxpayers could make the assumption that the taxes increased because the school district increased its budget,” Little read from his presentation. “However, the school district’s budget decreased from the prior year.”
For the 2010-’11 year, Amphi’s budget is $79.125 million, down from $81.66 million the previous year. Yet the district’s combined primary and secondary property taxes are increasing about 9.5 percent, or about $4.40 per $100,000 of valuation.
Taxes are being increased because cash balances have been taken by the Legislature, there has been a $4 million shift in some costs from the state to the district, and delinquent taxes have risen to a point near $1.8 million, Little said.
“Primary property values at the state level have decreased, and this has increased the QTR,” or qualifying tax rate, Little said in his presentation. “However, primary property values in Amphitheater are increasing,” because they’re based on market values from two years ago. “The increased primary values combined with the increased QTR shifts funding from the state to the local taxpayers in the amount of $3.99 million.”
Amphi’s delinquent property tax rate “has been close to zero during good economic times,” Little said. Last week, he told the school board that Amphi now has a delinquency rate above 4 percent, totaling nearly $1.8 million.
Cash balances taken by the Legislature required an increase in district property taxes in by $3.05 million, which raised the tax rate by $18.90 per $100,000 of valuation.
“We want to avoid the easy accusation that we increased our taxes,” Little said to the board during his presentation. “Because the tax bill will read ‘Amphi has raised taxes’.”
A change in the law to be implemented for the 2011-’12 year will increase the tax bills for owner-occupied properties in school districts without providing additional funding to the districts. The impact of the law change is estimated at $18 per $100,000 of a home’s value in addition to the tax raises this year, according to Little’s presentation.
“Taxpayers of the district are going to wind up with tax bill increases,” Little said Monday afternoon. “We just need to be able to explain that these have nothing to do with the district changing the budget, but have more to do with the nature of the taxation system and the decisions the legislature has made.”
In total, Pima County taxpayers will see about a 7 percent tax increase on their tax bill this year.
