Poor seniors could see taxes double

A government program that subsidizes property taxes for poor seniors in Maricopa County is set to run out of money next year, after a bill to keep it afloat failed at the Arizona Legislature.

About 14,000 people in the Elderly Assistance Fund will see their property tax bills increase in 2019, in some cases doubling, if nothing is done.

The average yearly subsidy is about $200 per person.

Maricopa County Treasurer Royce Flora said he was “shocked and upset”

that the Legislature punted on the program.

“It was a good bill. It helped people who desperately need it,” Flora said. “There was no valid reason to kill it.”

Opponents said the proposed legislation was unfair to younger taxpayers, would have benefited wealthy seniors and would have created another loophole in an already complicated state tax code.

The treasurer recently emailed homeowners, alerting them to the program’s plight. His website trumpets the letter in blinking, capital letters: “Legislature fails to protect low-income seniors.”

“Reducing the heavy tax burden placed on our seniors helps keep them in their homes,” the letter says. “These people worked hard all their lives and do not deserve to lose their homes to government because of taxes they could not anticipate.”

Ruth Rogers, 66, who depends on Social Security income, is among those who get by with help from the Elderly Assistance Fund.

She said she skipped meals and neglected utility bills to cover tax payments on the small west Phoenix home her parents bought in the 1950s until the Treasurer’s Office enrolled her.

“I love my home,” Rogers said. “It may not be much, but I love it.”

Flora blamed “special interests” for “a campaign of misinformation” to dissuade lawmakers from backing

Lower your property taxes

If you are a low-income senior, you may be able to freeze your home valuation through the Maricopa County Assessor’s Office and qualify for property-tax subsidies through the Maricopa County Treasurer’s Elderly Assistance Fund.

You must: ❚ Be 65 or older.

❚ Have an annual income of less than $36,000 for an individual or $45,000 for a couple.

❚ Own the home as your primary residence. ❚ Fill out the paperwork every three years.

You can download the form at mcassessor.maricopa .gov/relief-programs/valuation-relief-programs.php or call the Assessor’s Office at 602-506-3406.

For more info, visit treasurer.maricopa.gov or call the Treasurer’s Office at 602-506-8511.

The filing deadline is Sept. 1. a bill to change the program to permanently cut property taxes in half for poor seniors.

The bill would have expanded the benefit statewide to about 22,000 people by reclassifying properties.

The Arizona Tax Research Association said the legislation would create a new loophole in the tax code and cause other taxpayers’ bills to increase. Critics claimed local governments and fire districts would lose revenue, while wealthy seniors with expensive homes would qualify.

Some Republican lawmakers had similar concerns about Senate Bill 1268.

“I worry about the overall problem of equal and fair tax rates,” state Sen. Warren Petersen, R-Gilbert, said before voting against it. “Every time we throw something like this in there, it’s harder to unwind it.”

The Elderly Assistance Fund for years had more money than it needed to help poor seniors.

But the Legislature in 2015 ended the program’s funding source — a large fee that lawmakers called abusive on people whose homes were foreclosed.

That same year, the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors, with the support of then-Treasurer Charles Hoskins, depleted millions from the fund to help the county balance its budget.

Without a new funding source, Flora, who took over in 2017, estimates the program’s remaining $2.3 million will run out next year.

It is unlikely the county will provide money for the program, he said, since county budget officials have other priorities to address. He is more hopeful about an effort spearheaded by anti-tax activists.

Lynne Weaver, one of the Phoenix activists, said she is motivated by the defeat of SB 1268 to collect signatures for a ballot initiative in 2020 to go further than the legislation and eliminate property taxes for all people older than 65 in Arizona.

Flora said he would support that initiative as long as school funding isn’t affected.