The Arizona Tax Revolt Executive Committee

July 4, 2008
Arizona Tax Revolt Coordinators and Volunteers
Initiative Status – IMPORTANT UPDATE!!!!

To all Arizona Tax Revolt Volunteers and Coordinators:

The deadline for initiative petition signatures has arrived. We had hoped to submit the 230,047 signatures today to qualify for the ballot, however in spite of the herculean effort of several thousand volunteers who have been gathering signatures, last nights final count came up approximately 53,000 short. Though we failed to qualify for the ballot, due to all of our hard work all was not lost

The success of our fight for lower taxes will be apparent in September when we receive our 2008 tax bills. Why? Our levy rollback initiative proposed modest revenue cuts for the taxing entities if they kept 2008 tax increases to 2 percent and achieved at least a 2/3 vote on bond measures, and more severe cuts if they did not show fiscal restraint. Since there is no way to be sure that 2/3 of the voters would support increased indebtedness and property taxes, several responsible taxing entities opted not to ask the voters for additional debt approval and they kept tax increases to 2percent. This will serve to keep property taxes lower in 2008 than they otherwise would have been.

In addition, the Arizona Tax Revolt met with and convinced the Realtors Association to promote their No New Property Tax initiative which will be on the ballot. This will preclude what otherwise could have been a tax for the privilege of a rubber stamp upon transfer of ownership. In some states that collect transfer taxes it is not unusual to pay $1000 or more for the privilege of selling your property.

Finally our levy limit proposal prompted the Legislature to at least debate the merits of secondary levy limits. Though 2% property tax increases have sufficed for municipal fire departments for the last 28 years the separate fire districts lobbied against an overly generous 10% increase, killing much needed secondary levy limits.

Unless we can establish levy limits for all taxing entities home ownership will become unaffordable for working families and those on fixed incomes. Times are tough for Arizona property owners. Nevertheless, it is up to each of us to invest in property tax reform which can only be achieved via the initiative process. Donations are the key to success. It will be necessary to raise at least $150,000 to pay for signature gatherers to complement future volunteer efforts.

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In closing I personally want to thank each and every one of you for your considerable effort and support. Please share this e-mail with any volunteers that you may have enlisted which do not receive our e-mails, and if possible submit it to your local newspaper as a guest editorial.