During the Nov. 2 meeting, the Queen Creek Town Council unanimously approved resolution 1500-22, a new financial policy to freeze primary property taxes for existing taxpayers for the next five years.
“This council and previous councils have been committed to public safety and fiscal responsibility,” said Queen Creek Vice Mayor Jeff Brown. “In 2020, council unanimously approved reducing the primary property tax rate. To provide certainty for our residents and business owners this council tasked staff with identifying a way to continue to walk down the property tax rate over a longer window of time, saving them additional monies. Last night’s vote on Resolution 1500-22 was the culmination of those efforts. I am thankful to my fellow council members for the unanimous support of that vision, our staff for their thoughtful policy development, and late Mayor Barney, for his leadership in this area.”
The town’s primary property tax was approved by voters in 2007 not to exceed $1.95 per $100 of assessed value and is dedicated to fund public safety. The primary property tax remained $1.95 per $100 of assessed property value until 2020, when Town Council voted unanimously to reduce the primary property tax rate to $1.83 per $100 of assessed value.
Resolution 1500-22 freezes the amount of taxes paid by property owners in Queen Creek, which reduces the property tax rate each year due to property values anticipated to increase. For example, for a home with an assessed value of $241,000 in 2023, the property tax paid will be $441 at a rate of $1.83. In 2028, that same home is anticipated to have an assessed property value of $308,000 – to obtain the same property tax paid of $441, the rate would be $1.40. In the fifth year, under the new policy, the reduction in property tax revenues is $4.7 million.
The town will continue to collect more in property taxes each year as the new policy continues to collect property taxes from new construction. The policy also stipulates that the levy rate must exceed $1.40 per $100 of assessed value and the amount of property taxes is 20% or higher of public safety expenses. The town’s public safety is funded through primary property taxes and supplemented with the town’s general fund. Shifting the funding to the general fund includes sales tax revenues, which are generated by both residents and non-residents.
At the Nov. 2 meeting, Town Council also unanimously approved resolution 1503-22, eliminating streetlight improvement districts (SLIDs). SLIDs are intended to recover electricity costs for lighting residential subdivisions and included on applicable property tax bill. The reduction is $200,000 annually, which will be paid from the town’s general fund.
To view Town Council meetings, visit QueenCreekAZ.gov/WatchMeetings.
For additional information regarding the town’s budget, visit QueenCreekAZ.gov/Budget.
