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Supervisor David Snider on the budget and taxes
Letter
Wednesday, June 6, 2012
As you may know by now, the Board of Supervisors had a robust discussion and consideration of a tentative budget for FY 2013 last month. After what some might call a false start, we voted unanimously to adopt the lower primary tax rate of $3.79 per hundred dollars of assessed valuation and a tentative budget of $334,515,835. This is a 20-cent decrease from the current rate. Total projected spending is six percent below last year's budget of $357 million. The vote on May 25th set the upper ceiling for the budget. Final budget adoption will take place at the June 20th meeting.
The issues involved in the Board’s adoption of a Tentative Budget for FY 2013 are complex – as they usually are. The nearly two hour discussion on Wednesday, the 23rd, was intense, passionate, and allowed for expressions of opinion by a number of people (County employees, elected officials, and members of the public) – the debate on the 25th was shorter but no less intense.
When I considered the choice between lowering the primary tax rate by 20 cents or 10 cents, I pushed for the 20 cent reduction. In fact, I’ve argued for a reduction since we began the budget process in January of this year and I am pleased to see it reflected in the adopted FY 2013 tentative budget.
There was vigorous debate on how to ‘split the baby’ – do we reduce the burden on taxpayers or do we reward Pinal County employees for slogging through the doldrums of this recession? Can we do both in the new budget? Supervisor Rios strongly pressed for a one-time bonus for employees or a small salary increase. The details and implementation plans for those options were unclear but presumably could be ironed out in the future.
It is my fervent hope that we can reward employees sooner than later. BUT, if we are truly public servants, our residents come first. They’re the ones who moved here, invested in Pinal County, saw their property values decline, experienced foreclosure, job loss, and other hardships – either personally or through relatives, friends, and neighbors. Those are the people I took an oath to represent.
Do we have hard-working, dedicated employees who have endured hard times? Absolutely. Do most employees live in Pinal County and pay taxes here? Absolutely. Should we recognize their hard work? Absolutely. I am committed to rewarding the dedicated public servants who work at Pinal County but I want to proceed cautiously. There are faint signs of recovery in Pinal County, but there are indeed hurdles and challenges ahead.
My vote on May 23rd and again on May 25th was to recognize the sacrifice of the majority – to give a 20-cent reduction to the property owners and struggling business owners who have invested their future and fortune in Pinal County. I hope to also reward the Pinal County employees. They’re the ones who pave your roads, patch your potholes, investigate your infectious diseases, register you to vote, conduct elections, monitor your air quality, ensure your safety, and police your communities.
It is my hope that we can craft a plan to also reward employees as a part of that final budget, but I took an oath to all of you. That is why I supported a greater reduction in the primary tax rate.
Sincerely,
David Snider
Pinal County District 3
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Pinal County / CopaNews.com
District 3 Supervisor David Snider is determined to lower Pinal County taxes.
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