By Philip Haldiman

Independent Newsmedia

A retirement community in a Maricopa County island is fighting for equity in taxation.

Residents of the 1,650-home Corte Bella development, located just south of Loop 303 and just north of Sun City West, claim they must pay a portion of their property taxes to Peoria Unified School District while nearby retirement community Sun City and part of Sun City West are exempt from some school taxes within the secondary property tax category.

Bob Baldesari, a member of the community’s government affairs committee, said he gives 66 percent of his property taxes to PUSD and has paid $33,000 to the district over his 11 years in Corte Bella. He estimates residents have funneled about $57 million into the district.

“Sun City and Sun City West pay no taxes. Why are we not afforded the same constitutional rights as other communities like us? We feel this is taxation without representation. I say it is taxation without location. We’re not in the right location,” he said. “Corte Bella doesn’t have any players in the game but we are paying full admission. It is not a fair and equitable method of collecting taxes.”

Equality in taxes

Resident Diane Smith said about 60 percent of the Corte Bella homeowners’ property taxes are for area schools where they do not live, or receive any city services from, while their neighbors directly to the south pay less for school taxes.

Ms. Smith said district school taxes should be applied to all age-restricted adult communities or that no age-restricted adult communities be taxed. She said it is not a just and reasonable taxation policy, citing the Arizona State Constitution, “all taxes shall be uniform upon the same class of property within the territorial limits of the authority levying the tax, and shall be levied and collected for public purposes only.”

Ms. Smith said her property taxes have nearly quadrupled since she moved to Corte Bella in 2003, when the development opened, and the inequity has led to depressed home values relative to Sun City West.

“Some Realtors will not even show their clients homes in Corte Bella because buyers decline to consider them once they learn they must pay school taxes,” Ms. Smith said. “Corte Bella homes are less desirable and property values are depressed due to the assessment of school taxes where neighboring communities are not assessed these taxes.”

The issue of taxation at Corte Bella comes up occasionally, said Sun City resident of about 20 years Marv Worthen. He was involved in the former Sun City Taxpayers Association  that offered residents tax assistance.

Mr. Worthen said having less school taxes can make Sun City an attractive place to live — you can definitely tell which side of the street is paying more in taxes.

“(Corte Bella) cries poverty every time they have an increase in water rates, but Corte Bella has nice homes and it is a nice area. I can understand that people would want something for their homes,” he said.

History of opposition

Arizona has two types of property tax — primary property tax and secondary property tax. The former is used for typical maintenance and operations expenses in public education while the latter is often voter approved projects like bonds, according to Ryan Boyd, a spokesman for the Maricopa County Assessor’s Office.

Most residents of Sun City and Sun City West are exempt from secondary property taxes on local schools as a result of numerous school-tax levies defeated by a large senior citizen voting bloc decades ago, ending in tax exemptions, either through de-annexation or other means. These exemptions were implemented during a time when the senior citizen electorate dominated West Valley elections even more than they do today.

Sun City West spokeswoman Katy O’Grady said residents were successfully able to de-annex part of the retirement community from the Dysart Unified School District in 1981 after a bond failed at the ballot box.

“The weight of the Sun City West vote at that time overwhelmed the other areas and they couldn’t get bonds and overrides passed, so they got frustrated and voted to for the de-annexing,” she said.

In the 1970s, PUSD agreed to exempt the Sun Cities and portions of Sun City West from the local district tax after failed bonds and overrides due to a strong opposition voting block in those retirement communities, said Mr. Baldesari.

“Every time the district tried to pass a bond issue or an override, the residents would vote the requests down,” he said. “Finally, frustrated with the retirement community’s voting power as a bloc, (the district) made an agreement to exempt the Sun Cities from the local district tax.”

Ballot initiative option

Residents have sent letters to Legislative District 22 lawmakers with no response, and a group of residents appeared before the PUSD Governing Board to request the district modify the existing school boundaries to exempt the Corte Bella community.

This could be accomplished through a resident-supported initiative requiring 10 percent or more of the qualified electors residing in the school district provide a petition for the reduction of school boundaries.

PUSD spokeswoman Danielle Airey said this would have various impacts, but the main one would be a reduction of assessed valuation of the Peoria Unified School District, increasing taxes on the remaining property owners in the school district while reducing the Corte Bella community taxes.

The petition would be presented to the county school superintendent, who would then provide a report to the school board on the impacts of a re-draw, and the report would be distributed to all households in the district. Then there would be a vote.

But Ms. Smith feels it is the job of PUSD to either exempt Corte Bella or tax all retirement communities.

In 1998, an Arizona court upheld a challenge by the family of a teenage boy living in the nearby age-restricted community of Youngtown. The decision opened the doors for children in Youngtown to attend PUSD schools.

Ms. Smith cited this as a precedent and a reason for exemption, rather than working toward for an initiative to redraw district boundaries.

“If they could grab back Youngtown, they could remove us. ... We just want the same treatment, for the district to follow their own precedent,” she said.

Looking forward

In the coming election, Peoria Unified has a $189.2 million bond on the ballot to fund one high school and the construction of a new facility for the Peoria Traditional School, as well as improvements and updates throughout the Peoria Unified School District. The district governing board also has two of five seats open this year.

Additionally, the district is in the process of a nation-wide search for a new superintendent.

Ms. Smith said with everything up in the air, the Corte Bella group is in a holding pattern.

“Lots of new faces will emerge after the election, so we found it to be redundant to keep addressing the folks there now, as many will be gone by the November election,” she said. “Our pursuit will continue to be with the PUSD Governing Board. We are not going away.”

From the PUSD governing board

Two PUSD Governing Board members sent email statements to the Peoria Today in response to the request from Corte Bella residents to receive equal treatment in regards to school taxes.

Board member David Sandoval: I am uncertain of the dollar amount that PUSD would lose if taxation was eliminated in Corte Bella and how much was eliminated due to the Sun Cities not paying school taxes any longer. But, I can tell you this, PUSD is the fourth largest school district in Arizona and the largest employer in the city of Peoria and highly sought out by families, which means more demand and growth in the number of residents and home sales.  The tradition of excellence that PUSD upholds does directly correlate to higher home values, lower crime rates and a strong economy. As data suggests a thriving school district equates to a thriving community and not only do the constituents of the district benefit from PUSD’s forward thinking and focus on developing the character of a community, city and state, but the surrounding communities do as well. The district is considered a partner in the success of the population that it serves and my focus is to ensure that the voices of all are heard and listened to, so we can move forward in a collaborative way that impacts student success and influences safe and thriving communities.

President Monica Ceja Martinez: As a member of the Peoria Unified Governing Board, I appreciate their efforts and bringing this information to our attention. Our administration has worked diligently to research the request and communicate the outcome. I empathize with our Corte Bella neighbors and as a result of state law referendums, it is out of our district’s jurisdiction and in the hands of the voters.