By Howard Fischer
Capitol Media Services/Arizona Business Gazette
Kevin McCarthy and Lynne Weaver agree on pretty much only one thing about Proposition 117: There is nothing in the constitutional language that forces down property taxes.
In fact, there’s nothing there that precludes tax from going up — again, legally.
But McCarthy, president of the business-oriented Arizona Tax Research Association, said he believes Proposition 117 really will keep property taxes down, if for no other reason than politics: Elected officials are afraid of angering voters.
Weaver, who is trying to get an actual property tax cap enacted, disagrees.
Central to the fight is the state’s complex property tax system.
All property is supposed to be assessed at its market value. That starts with the selling price of the new home or business.
And every year it gets reassessed for its “full-cash value” — again, supposedly the market value.
