More property taxes needed to continue financing $111 million dollar construction projects

The Community College promised at the March 3 Governing Board meeting that it would seek at least a 2 percent property tax increase this year. It noted that the tax rate had not been increased for two years.

The College seeks the money so it can continue financing the construction projects it has decided are needed with about 90% or more of them on the West side of the County. Several are already in progress.

The College has experienced a continual decline in enrollment over the past several years.  Therefore, from its view, student tuition and property taxes must make up the deficit resulting from the absence of student tution.

County voters are relatively helpless to prevent the tax increase unless three of the five District Governing Board members can be persuaded to not grant the administrators increase.

The administrators will put forth their justification for the increase at the April Board meeting and a vote will be taken in May. Unlike all other educational institutions in Arizona, the Governing Board has the power to increase property taxes with only a public meeting before the final vote is taken. In the past, any objection by the public at the public meeting to a tax increase requested by College administrators has been ignored by the Board.

Residents in the Sedona taxing district may well be among the most upset with the proposal to increase property taxes. With a tax increase, by 2016 that district will have paid close to $100 million dollars in property taxes directly to the Community College. Many in the taxing district feel they have received very little in return.

College Administration to ask for tax rate increase; funds needed to mostly  support $111 million dollar construction projects on West side of County

The Community College administration made it clear at the March 3 meeting that it intends to ask the  College Governing Board to approve a property tax rate increase this year. Vice President Clint Ewell suggested that the increase under the law could be as much as ten percent. However, he indicated that the administration will be asking for a 2% increase.

The increase in property taxes is justified by College administrators  as needed to support the $111 million dollar ten-year expansion and renovation projects on the West side of the County. According to press reports, the College already believes it has $67 million in existing revenue toward the goal of $111 million. But it needs to fill the $46 million short-fall. 

The tax increase follows the 3% student tuition and fees increase already approved by the Governing Board in a 3-2 vote at the March meeting.

Voters are essentially helpless to prevent the tax increase.  There will be a public meeting just prior to the Board vote in May.  However, because of work schedules and other commitments, those meetings have in the past been sparsely attended and opposition to the past tax increases ignored.

The Governing Board will receive more information about the proposed tax rate increase at the April meeting and will vote the request up or down in May. A short video clip of the tax rate statements made by Vice President Ewell will be posted here shortly.

Annual property taxes from Verde Valley provide $5 million or more excess revenue to Prescott

Once the Community College revealed the total operating expenses associated with the Verde Campus and the Sedona Center,  which it set at a total of $7 million, it became clear that several millions of dollars in excess property tax revenue existed.  This surplus came to about $5,456,000 in 2012.

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In addition to the excess revenue collected every year from the Verde Valley, Prescott receives all of the millions of dollars in County property tax revenue from all of the other four County districts, all student tuition, which is from $10 to $12 million dollars, and all the money from the State of Arizona. It also applies most of the grant money it receives to the Prescott side of the County.