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.