Republican proposal would make it harder for Arizona cities to raise fees, taxes

Republicans in the state Senate advanced a bill to make it more difficult for local governments in Arizona to raise taxes.

Senate President Warren Petersen’s proposal would require a super majority two-thirds vote by city councils and county boards of supervisors seeking to raise fees or taxes levied against their residents. Right now, local officials in most municipalities need a simple majority vote to raise taxes, so a seven-person council that needs four votes now would instead need five under Petersen’s bill.

“I think when you're talking about the force of government taking away property from somebody and spending it, then there should be greater protections,” Petersen (R-Gilbert) said.

Senate Bill 1013 passed through the Senate Government Committee along party lines, with Democrats arguing the legislation would make it more difficult for cities and counties to raise the revenue needed to pay for essential services.

“I want to ask how this might impact cities and towns and their ability to fund their law enforcement and firefighters,” said Sen. Lauren Kuby (D-Tempe), a former Tempe councilwoman. “I know that when I was on City Council, a large part of our budget was going to firefighters and and to the police.”

Dozens of municipalities across the state opposed the bill as well.

Nick Ponder, a lobbyist representing the League of Arizona Cities and Towns, said lawmakers should let residents decide whether they want to impose the super majority requirement on their local governments.

“I think the appropriateness is to trust the residents of those respective communities to make that decision for themselves, not a body that has no accountability to the residents of those respective communities,” he said.

Sen. Jake Hoffman (R-Queen Creek), also a former town councilman, bristled at that argument, repeatedly interrupting Ponder to suggest some cities and towns are raising taxes and fees more aggressively than needed to cover necessary costs.

“There are plenty of cities that utilize fee increases to backfill areas of the budget for radical woke agendas,” Hoffman alleged.

Kuby disagreed, citing her own experience.

“When you raise rates and fees with wastewater services and recycling, it was because the market was forcing that upon us with such increases in land use fees and recycling costs that we had to pass it on to the residents, but it paid for the service,” she said. “It wasn't a profit center for the city. It was an essential city service that could conceivably be impacted by this bill.”

Both Hoffman and Petersen disagreed. They said most suggested tax and fee increases at the municipal level fly through with unanimous support anyway and said the new legislation is necessary to represent the “minority” of residents who might oppose such moves.

“It almost sounded like they were saying we were making it so you could not raise taxes,” Petersen said. “They can still vote to do it.”

Petersen, who sponsored the bill, said it would hold local governments to the same standard as the Legislature, which needs a two-thirds majority vote to raise taxes under a law approved by voters in 1992.