Home » From The Readers, Letters to the Editor » Dear Editor: Annexation and Taxes

Dear Editor: Annexation and Taxes

Dear Editor,
 

  

There are no guarantees but once you are annexed, there is no turning back.

In response to the Verde Independent 2/27/11 Opinion & Commentary regarding “When it’s time to pay your tax bill, life is good in Cottonwood,” I phoned the County Assessor’s Office (928-771-3220) and would like to share some facts.

First, if you take a specific house in Verde Santa Fe (Cornville) with a full cash value of $200,000 and plop it down in Cottonwood or say Sedona, on a similar lot, one cannot assume the improvement value (structure) and the land value, which are the basis for the full cash value, will be the same $200,000 in Cottonwood or Sedona for a given tax year.  For a specific area (i.e. Verde Santa Fe, Cottonwood, Sedona) the County Assessor’s Office specifically looks at what is happening within that specific area.  For example, if a VA hospital and Big 5 store are built in Cottonwood, this may drive the land value within Cottonwood higher than the adjacent Verde Santa Fe since there is more demand for land in Cottonwood. The higher land value in Cottonwood increases the full cash value and therefore increases the assessed value.  The property tax bill is impacted by many factors specific to your exact geographic location. 

If the author was saying that a property (house and land) with a full cash value of $200,000 in Cottonwood is the same as a property with a $200,000 full cash value in Verde Santa Fe or elsewhere, it is incorrect to assume for the same full cash value amount that the house and the land are the same in these different areas.  For example, a $200,000 full cash value property (house and land) in Cottonwood is going to be very different than a $200,000 full cash value property in Sedona. What can you buy for $200,000 in Sedona? One cannot assume that Cottonwood and Verde Santa Fe are identical areas just because they are adjacent to each other.  The County Assessor’s Office does not value them identically when calculating full cash values.

The author also states that “Cottonwood collects more sales tax from non-residents that it does from those who live in the city limits.”  What happens if the economy takes a turn for the worse and less sales tax revenue is collected but Cottonwood’s expenses remain the same or increase?  Where could Cottonwood make up the loss revenue…possibly from their residents in the form of higher taxes and fees???

Although the current property taxes may be lower in Cottonwood versus Verde Santa Fe, is there any guaranty 2 years, 5 years, 7 years from now that will be the case?  Why would anyone want to voluntarily agree to put themselves under the jurisdiction of an additional taxing authority (being annexed into Cottonwood) with no guaranty of what future taxes will be and no way to “unannex” once you are annexed?  In your experience, how often are taxes reduced or remain the same?

Karen Chamberlain

Cornville, AZ

1 Comment

  1. Minnesota Sedona Winds vacationer says:

    good point about tax burdens increasing rather than decreasing in future which is exactly what economists know will happen and is happening to balance billion dollar shortfalls in state budgets–excuse me Arizonans, but your state is in awful shape and will take your tax dollar until you bleed! Seems to me that many of you aren’t thinking clearly about adding more government??

    verde sante fe annexation might be about bending over to pick up the penny on the sidewalk without realizing a thief used the opportunity to lift your wallet out of your back pocket–

    but here’s something to consider; No government entity will bother with an annexation proposal that doesn’t increase its revenue stream. So no whining allowed when your taxes are raised during the next valuation & don’t count on the press to give you the facts since the Chamber of Commerces are pro-tax and those businesses support the newspapers with its only revenue stream. No whining now!!!

Leave a Reply

Copyright © 2008-2017 · Sedona Eye · All Rights Reserved · Posts · Comments · Facebook · Twitter ·