Property Taxes (or lack thereof) (Phoenix, Tucson: sales, assessor, salary)

[sierraAZ]

There was an article in AZ Daily Star about property taxes yesterday: Property taxes may move into suburbs | www.azstarnet.com ®

I was very surprised to find out that Marana, Oro Valley, and Sahuarita (Tucson Metro) and Mesa (Phoenix Metro) do not have property taxes. How in the world did they manage to get away from it...?! Most likely it'll be a short-lived enjoyment, but it's still strange.

[Bummer]

Originally Posted by sierraAZ

There was an article in AZ Daily Star about property taxes yesterday: Property taxes may move into suburbs | www.azstarnet.com ®

I was very surprised to find out that Marana, Oro Valley, and Sahuarita (Tucson Metro) and Mesa (Phoenix Metro) do not have property taxes. How in the world did they manage to get away from it...?! Most likely it'll be a short-lived enjoyment, but it's still strange.

Great question, SierraAZ.

Could this be a simple "play on words" since property taxes are a COUNTY THING and not CITY THING?

No expert here but I do know I pay my property taxes to The Treasurer of Pima County and, although right on the Northern edge, I live within the City Limits of Tucson.

SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT!

[LordBalfor]

Originally Posted by Bummer

Great question, SierraAZ.

Could this be a simple "play on words" since property taxes are a COUNTY THING and not CITY THING?

No expert here but I do know I pay my property taxes to The Treasurer of Pima County and, although right on the Northern edge, I live within the City Limits of Tucson.

SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT!

Yeah, my property taxes out at J-6 Ranchettes near Benson (I'm just inside the county line) are also paid out to Pima County.

Ken

[sierraAZ]

Originally Posted by Bummer

Great question, SierraAZ.

Could this be a simple "play on words" since property taxes are a COUNTY THING and not CITY THING?

No expert here but I do know I pay my property taxes to The Treasurer of Pima County and, although right on the Northern edge, I live within the City Limits of Tucson.

SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT!

That's exactly what is strange. They're not within city limits (Marana is a town of its own; not sure about the other two), but they're certainly a part of the county... It's not like they're on a reservation or something...

[Bummer]

Originally Posted by sierraAZ

That's exactly what is strange. They're not within city limits (Marana is a town of its own; not sure about the other two), but they're certainly a part of the county... It's not like they're on a reservation or something...

I understand, SierraAZ

Just North of me on the other side of The Rillito is considered Pima County and not Tucson but the homeowners still pay Pima County Property Taxes.

That's why I stated this may be a "play on words" because it sounds like the towns mentioned are considering adding to the already existing county taxes for additional revenue.

This is similar to the add-ons to the State and County Sales Tax.

Just my wild guess here!

[sierraAZ]

Originally Posted by Bummer

I understand, SierraAZ

Just North of me on the other side of The Rillito is considered Pima County and not Tucson but the homeowners still pay Pima County Property Taxes.

That's why I stated this may be a "play on words" because it sounds like the towns mentioned are considering adding to the already existing county taxes for additional revenue.

This is similar to the add-ons to the State and County Sales Tax.

Just my wild guess here!

Oh, well, if it's not one thing it's another... Now that FEMA is gonna hit Marana, they're certainly not to be envied...

[aj661]

Originally Posted by sierraAZ

There was an article in AZ Daily Star about property taxes yesterday: Property taxes may move into suburbs | www.azstarnet.com ®

I was very surprised to find out that Marana, Oro Valley, and Sahuarita (Tucson Metro) and Mesa (Phoenix Metro) do not have property taxes. How in the world did they manage to get away from it...?! Most likely it'll be a short-lived enjoyment, but it's still strange.

I live in Mesa and the city has never had a property tax. It's been brought before the voters several times and always voted down. It may happen one day because of budgetary problems, but the voters have demanded that the city cut some of it's wasteful spending first. Longevity pay for city employees was a good example. Any employee hired before 7-1-88 receives a lump sum of up to 10% of their annual salary. Employees hired on or after that date until July 1, 1992 receive 5%. Mesa's pay and benefits package for most employees already blew a lot of cities out of the water without that added perk.

Just for comparison, I checked on a couple other cities. Scottsdale, and Gilbert have property taxes:
Real Property Tax
Government

Mesa, Apache Junction, Oro Valley and Marana do not:
Tax & Licensing
| CITY OF APACHE JUNCTION | CITY CLERK FAQs
Town of Oro Valley (broken link)

[Nice Nice Baby!]

SierraAZ, you need to look at your property tax notice that the county sends out every year to understand what the other posters are trying to educate you on. Then you'll see why your start to this thread is questionable. There are many people that live in unincorparated areas, but still pay high property taxes. The city's tax is much less as an assessment, but we all are overtaxed, so I do agree with you to a degree.

[sierraAZ]

Originally Posted by Nice Nice Baby!

SierraAZ, you need to look at your property tax notice that the county sends out every year to understand what the other posters are trying to educate you on. Then you'll see why your start to this thread is questionable. There are many people that live in unincorparated areas, but still pay high property taxes. The city's tax is much less as an assessment, but we all are overtaxed, so I do agree with you to a degree.

Well, I started the thread because I found the article strange (and still do). The topic doesn't really interest me too much personally other than the practice appearing to be not quite fair. So far, I'm failing to see any "education" (tend to resent condescending tone, particularly for no reason)... When you find it, please let me know.

The property taxes here are paid to the county (whether you live in the city or in the county) - Pima County Assessor Online (broken link) - and these places certainly belong to the county as well.

[Nice Nice Baby!]

That's right, all cities are in a county, but a county is not part of a city. The tax is an assessment. You pay for extra services from this assessment. Lesson #1.