It’s that time of year again, when Tempe Finance Director Ken Jones starts getting calls on the city’s property-tax-rate proposal.
Jones said he understands why residents are confused. In 2011, the Tempe City Council adopted a property-tax policy unlike any other in the Valley. The current council has stuck with it, so far. Arizona’s complex state laws on property taxes only add to the confusion.
Tempe officials say that the policy keeps the total city property-tax levy relatively constant by limiting increases to no more than the Consumer Price Index rate of inflation. Other cities each year continue debating what their tax rate should be, while the Tempe council relies on the policy to determine the rate.
“I think the benefit is that we aren’t using, spending, two or three City Council meetings each year to determine what our policy is for collecting property tax and what we would use it for,” Jones said. “We’ve already established our policy and what it’s to be used for, and the rate would adjust itself.”
Residents who back the policy say that Tempe is being fiscally responsible. Others say that Tempe increasing the combined
property-tax rate from $1.40 per $100 of assessed valuation in 2011 to the current $2.488 has prevented the majority of homeowners from seeing their tax bill decline as home values fell.
When residents call with questions about the tax policy or their tax bill, Jones walks them through Tempe’s policy to help them understand how it affects the levy and the rate, and explains that taxes are affected by home valuations that are set by the Maricopa County Assessor’s Office, not by Tempe. Continued
