Title
Senate Bill (SB) 1529 Tucson Unified School District Desegregation Tax Levy Transfer to the Secondary Property Tax Levy
Staff recommends:
A. The Board of Supervisors take the first option and direct staff to calculate the one-percent-limit credit, and resulting additional state aid, in compliance with the Constitution and §15-972, by including the ostensibly “secondary” property tax with the other taxes that are subject to the limit.
B. The Board take this action at the Board of Supervisors meeting of June 12, 2018. The Tucson Unified School District (TUSD) Board may then choose to file a declaratory judgement against the County and the State asking the Court to either order Pima County to levy what we believe is an unconstitutional secondary property tax, or order the Department of Revenue to pay the additional-state-aid as they have for almost 40 years.
C. The Board instruct staff to notify the TUSD Board and Superintendent that the County intends to include the Desegregation Tax in the one-percent calculation, rather than increase TUSD homeowners’ secondary tax liability, and invite TUSD to request the Superior Court to determine whether SB 1529 effectively changed that methodology, and if so, whether that change is constitutional and direct the County and State accordingly.