On Tuesday, the Pima County Board of Supervisors will consider Administrator Chuck Huckelberry’s 2016 legislative agenda. Huckelberry’s agenda focuses primarily on seeking tax increases for the County residents.
While Huckelberry hopes to increase taxes on residents, also on the agenda is a resolution proposed by Supervisor Elias intended to block increasing the tax base by increasing holding of the State Land Trust.
The supervisors’s meeting is sceduled for 9:00 a.m. at 130 W. Congress Street.
Legislative agenda highlights:
The Legislature should enact legislation that implements a half-cent sales tax with a provision that all proceeds are used to lower the property tax and appropriate adjustments are made to the county’s tax rate and tax levy limit to ensure the proceeds of such a sales tax cannot be used to expand the expenditure authority of any county.
The statewide gas tax dedicated to transportation is $0.18 per gallon and has not been increased since 1991. The gas tax should be increased at least $0.10 per gallon to offset the significant loss of purchasing power due to changes in the Consumer Price Index and reduced fuel consumption resulting from more fuel efficient vehicles.
The State should consider reducing and/or eliminating inefficient organizations or departments within State government and using the proceeds to pay former State obligations that have been transferred to the counties. This would include the Arizona Department of Juvenile Corrections. This department should be eliminated and the cost savings reapportioned to the counties that bear the burden of providing services.
The State should also consider paying for State programs they have partially or fully transferred to counties over the past few years. Such would include restoration to competency, sexually violent persons, additional State aid to education, State juvenile detention cost shifts, paying a portion of operating the Arizona Department of Revenue and the Presidential Preference Election.
These more recent cost transfers from the State to the counties could easily be paid with State revenues, which would lessen the financial burden on counties. Such would reduce needed local property taxes by $24.2 million (additional state aid education $17 .3 million, restoration to competency $1. 7 million, sexually violent persons $1 .2 million, State juvenile detention $1 .8 million, Arizona Department of Revenue $1 .1 million, and Presidential Preference Election $1.1 million). If once again paid by the State, Pima County would agree to reduce our primary property tax rate by an equivalent amount (35 cents, or eight percent) of our primary property tax rate.