Residents will soon be receiving their property tax statements from Maricopa County, and Fountain Hills property owners will see an overall increase of about 9 percent in the tax rate.
Residents …
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Residents will soon be receiving their property tax statements from Maricopa County, and Fountain Hills property owners will see an overall increase of about 9 percent in the tax rate.
Residents will be paying approximately $8.35 per every $100 of assessed value on property they own. This compares to the $7.65 that was levied in 2012.
The increase in tax rate is primarily a reflection of a continued decline in assessed property value for Fountain Hills. The drop for 2013 is considerably smaller than the past two years, a 3.4 percent drop compared to 16.5 percent in 2012, and an 18 percent decline in 2011.
“The town’s assessed valuation has declined 38 percent over the last three years,” Deputy Town Manager/Finance Director Julie Ghetti said.
“However, we anticipate that with the perceived (economic) recovery that those values will start to creep back up.”
The total primary assessed valuation for Fountain Hills in 2013 is $364,092,158, down from a high of $563,493,503 in 2009.
The secondary AV for 2013 is set at $366,302,672, which is down from $651,218,464 in 2009.
The total tax rate includes local taxes including the School District, Sanitary District, EVIT and the Town of Fountain Hills.
Of those the high is the School District with a rate of $3.41 for 2013, a 12.3 percent increase from 2012.
The Sanitary District rate is .7954, a 12.5 percent increase.
The Town of Fountain Hills is assessing a tax rate of .2773, up 4.37 percent from 2012.
The town has a secondary property tax only, since it does not assess a primary property tax, which could be used for the General Fund budget.
The secondary property tax is used to pay for voter-approved general obligation bonds for specific projects and purchases.
The town is still paying on bonds issued for the purchase of open space and preserve land in the McDowell Mountains and land along the ridgeline surrounding Fountain Park.
There is also an outstanding bond for the construction of the Library/Museum building.
The town is scheduled to continue paying on these outstanding bonds through 2021, according to Ghetti.
The tax bill also includes taxes collected by Maricopa County for services.
The primary property tax rate for Maricopa County is $1.47 this year.
Other property taxes collected by the county support the community college district, Flood Control District, the county library system, of which the Fountain Hills library is part, the Central Arizona Water Conservation District, volunteer fire district taxes and the education equalization tax.
