Supervisors OK budget of $1.4 billionSales tax funding may not pass

TUCSON—Pima County tentatively approved a $1.4 billion budget for 2007-2008 Tuesday, but Supervisor Ray Carroll said he’ll vote against a half-cent sales tax to help fund it.

Carroll said a sales tax is most harmful to low-income residents. If he does vote no at tax time, he’ll scuttle the proposal.

The tentative budget was adopted by County Supervisors, but the taxes to fund it won’t be adopted until Aug. 20.

State law requires a unanimous vote to adopt the sales tax, and Carroll’s one “no” vote would negate the four other supervisors’ votes.

In 1997, Carroll also voted against a county sales tax, despite pleas of the other supervisors and supporters.

At Tuesday’s meeting, Carroll said, “I haven’t seen government crumble since I voted,” then.

He said the idea of a property tax should be put to a public vote, not decided by the board.

Those who argued for a sales tax said it would pass some of the county’s expenses onto visitors.

Supervisor Ann Day, District 1, said local trade groups estimate that visitors from Mexico spend $1 million a day in Tucson and the county.

Day took note that the county now has about one million residents and of the proposed sales tax she said, “We’re planning today for the next million people.”

County Administrator Chuck Huckelberry, who had proposed the sales tax, said that most larger counties have diversified income streams. All of Pima’s is from property taxes, he said.

Huckelberry said that even without a sales tax, the primary property tax rate for the next fiscal year can be reduced.

That’s because the assessed value of property continues to increase.

In his budget summary, Huckelberry said:

The proposed county budget for 2007-2008 is $1,463,516.575.

The county’s general fund ending balance for this fiscal year is $41,007,377, compared to the previous year of $23,000,000.

Imposing a half-cent sales tax would cost an average family of 2.5 people $91 a year.

If the sales tax is approved, the primary property tax would be reduced by 77 cents to $2.8281 per $100 of assessed evaluation. It would result in an average reduction of property tax on the average home by $119.93.

If sales tax isn’t approved, the primary rate will drop to $3.6020.

The county’s current primary property tax is $3.8420 per $100 of assessed valuation.

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