The undersigned are responding to Don Killian and his letter (“Tax values not as they might appear,” Sun City West Independent, Aug. 12, 2020).
Mr. Killian, unfortunately, has a misperception as to how tax rates are calculated for residents of the North County Fire and Medical District.
Arizona property owners receive two valuations, full cash value, which Mr. Killian refers to, and limited property value. By law, FCV is the current market value as determined by the county assessor. FCV fluctuates with the market and can increase or decrease yearly. Growth in LCV is limited to no more than 5% of the previous year’s value.
In 2012, with the housing market at the very bottom of the market, Arizona passed Proposition 117, which limited property value growth to 5% per year. By law, fire district funding moved from FCV to LCV. As a result, Mr. Killian’s calculation of an increase of 11.41% in his fire district tax is simply incorrect. Taxes are based on LCV and, further, because of Proposition 117, no one’s fire district tax can be more than 5% above what was paid the previous year.
Anyone can misunderstand the rather complicated and historically impacted method of determining fire district tax rates and the tax dollars paid by each district property owner. What is most concerning to us is Mr. Killian asserts that the Arizona Fire & Medical Authority and Assistant Chief Mary Dalton are presenting tax values that are not what they appear to be. Nothing could be further from the truth. Neither the NCFMD nor it’s umbrella agency, the AFMA, are hiding any information from the public they serve.
Through established financial policies, NCFMD Board of Directors begins to work on the upcoming budget in January and then approves the tentative budget and operational plan in May of each year. The tentative budget is then published for community inspection and comment until late June. Public meetings are open to the public for comment and suggested revision.
The district/authority annual budget process seeks to continue to deliver quality emergency services in an affordable, efficient and cost-effective manner; maintain an adequate financial base to sustain the current level of fire and emergency medical response; and withstand local and regional economic fluctuations and respond to changes in funding affecting operations.
The AFMA and NCFMD boards not only give a pat on the back to each of the senior staff officers of AFMA, we applaud their efforts to hold down our taxes and deliver great services to all property owners.
All Maricopa County full-time career fire districts have tax rates between $3.20 and $3.25, with the exception of NCFMD, which is at $2.86. Rates are capped at $3.25 unless a bond or override is approved by district voters. NCFMD residents are taxed at the lowest rate. Resident feedback is overwhelmingly positive according to recently completed surveys.
