Supervisors hike county property tax

Jun 13, 2010 — The Arizona Daily Sun

Cyndy Cole

Jun. 8, 2010 (McClatchy-Tribune Regional News delivered by Newstex) -- Property taxes for all Coconino County homeowners should be increased by $25 for every $100,000 their home is worth, the Coconino County Board of Supervisors unanimously voted on Monday night.

The decision was on a tentative budget, and the new tax will raise an extra $5 million a year.

A $300,000 home will be assessed an extra $75, a $1 million business about $500.

The increase ranges between 18 percent and 34 percent per house, depending on how much in countywide property taxes a homeowner currently pays.

Adoption of a final county budget is set for July 13, with tax limits to be set Aug. 10.

A largely anti-tax audience vocally opposed the tax increases Monday evening, with one speaker after another telling the supervisors they didn't want tax increases, or couldn't afford them in today's recession.

"I've taken a pay cut and my husband's business has decreased. We're definitely living within our means and the county should do the same," said Cynthia Dorfsmith, a city of Flagstaff employee.

"I oppose a property tax. I oppose a public health district ... I think it's using the homeowners as a slush fund," said Jesse Ford of Flagstaff.

Others spoke of the mounting costs to their businesses with various school and sales taxes, their opposition to overall government growth, or their willingness to see some government services end.

"I feel that many of the voters recently supported Proposition 100 because it was presented as the lesser of two evils," said Joy Staveley, owner of river-running company Canyoneers. "It was at least somewhat discretionary in that a person could buy or not buy items. The property tax is not."

Speaking after the vote, Supervisor Matt Ryan said it was a tug-of-war between raising taxes or seeing cuts to services the public uses.

"The impact to individuals, we certainly are weighing that and are concerned about that," he said. "Nobody wants to pay taxes. It's an unpopular item. And yet these are vital services that we provide."

This was the year the board ended trash service in a couple of his communities, and the county handed it over to a private business instead, he said.

He gave many other areas where the county had considered ways to cut costs, including law enforcement, which is a large cost.

He listed the possible options: Not locking someone up following a crime, more intensive probation, not having a reliable agency for victims to turn to following a crime.

"If you cut too much off, it could have a critical impact on the community, and we need to make sure there's some level of service out there for the community," he said.

Every other supervisor said the tax increase was needed.

"It still cuts costs and we still cannot provide the service that is needed with a growing population and being that we're in a rural county ... we're told sometimes that we're not providing all of the services that we need, but we just don't have the budget for it," said Supervisor Lena Fowler.

Supervisor Mandy Metzger reversed her December vote and also voted for the budget, calling these "meat and potatoes" services.

Opponents called for specifics on what would be eliminated if the tax were not passed.

Ron Boyer, owner of Boyer Metal Company, called on supervisors to cut hours and workweeks, as have some government agencies in other states.

Michael Dugan, who was wearing a T-shirt for the American Tea Party, asked: "Does the county recognize the cost of the services we pay for illegal immigrants?"

Astronomer and former City Councilman Nat White was in the minority supporting the tax, saying he thought the county had given adequate public notice, asked the public for solutions, and tried to find other options.

He said a county agency staffed by the audience's friends and neighbors was facing the brunt of anger over taxes at all levels, including for an "unfunded" war and corporate bailouts.

The audience booed him.

White challenged the audience to come up with solutions rather than provide "slogans" like "no new taxes" and "smaller government."

"I'm asking the county to reflect back to the audience: 'Come on, give us your input. Write it down. It's not grandstanding. Give us your solutions for how to cut waste,'" White said.

Criticism of purported waste softened somewhat as the meeting neared a third hour.

Dugan asked why the county wasn't using energy-efficient lights in the meeting room on East Cherry Avenue.

The building is undergoing a retrofit that will cut energy costs by more than half and switch out those lights, but the county delayed more significant renovations to save greater capital costs.

Another audience member asked about ending new programs at county health.

There aren't any new programs proposed, said Chairwoman Liz Archuleta.

Supervisor Carl Taylor attempted to redirect the audience's frustrations toward the Arizona Legislature.

"Ninety percent of what we do is mandated. Ninety percent. It's handed to us by state law saying, 'here, you have to do this, but oh, by the way we just took away the money,'" Taylor said loudly.

One audience member asked what would happen if the county told the state it couldn't afford some of its obligations.

Another suggested the county could sue the state.

Coconino County Manager Steve Peru began the evening with a financial presentation and a statement to the audience that he believed the tax was necessary after the county had cut jobs, delayed large expenses, and avoided other tax increases.

Unlike past proposals to improve parks and fund the local jail, county voters did not have the opportunity to vote on this proposal, because the Board of Supervisors found that it would have added two years to enact in that way.

The county has had the authority since 2000 to add a tax for public health, Peru said.

The idea last surfaced at the Board of Supervisors in 2007, but it was dismissed at the time, with no specifics on what the tax would have funded.

"We waited until 2010 at the board's direction, because we wanted to make sure that if we did it, we did it because we absolutely needed to have it in place," Peru said.

The county is forecasting more state budget cuts, and a budget cut of about $3 million remains even with the new tax, which will generate about $5.2 million.

This year Cataract Lake Park has been closed, a visiting nurse program for poor and mostly homebound seniors has ended, some sheriff deputy positions aren't being filled and probation officers are each supervising more people on probation as a result.

Newstex ID: KRTB-0065-46043679