Latest Coronavirus Update
Maricopa County, Arizona sent this bulletin at 04/08/2020 11:10 AM MSTMaricopa County Treasurer Royce Flora has asked Governor Doug Ducey to call a Special Session of the Legislature to extend the deadline for property owners to pay the second half of property taxes to June 1st. This request follows last week’s request to the Legislature to do the same. While we have heard from many legislators who want to move forward with this, legislative leadership has taken no action. The Governor’s Office has been non-responsive.
We thank the thousands of people who have expressed support for this effort. We hear you and will continue to work to get this done.
Below is the letter sent to the Governor.
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Royce T. Flora Treasurer |
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Russell K. Pearce Chief Deputy Treasurer |
April 6, 2020
Dear Honorable Governor Doug Ducey,
As Maricopa County Treasurer I respectfully and urgently request that you, as Governor of the great State of Arizona, help taxpayers during these difficult times by calling a Special Session of the State Legislature in order to address tax issues, including extending the deadline to pay the second half of 2019 property taxes to at least June 1, 2020.
We have asked the Legislature to take action; while many have expressed interest, the response has been disappointingly slow. The push back has been from paid lobbyists with agendas who care more about revenue than about citizens. The recent Executive Order has shut down many businesses causing lost wages and lost jobs. It would appear the citizens of Arizona are nothing more than a revenue source for government. Arizona citizens are dying while government puts revenue above people. Interestingly, government workers are paid regardless, even though many sit idly at home adding no value for taxpayers.
Why haven’t the experts at the Offices who deal directly with these issues been consulted? We have the facts. This is a time-sensitive issue and must be addressed immediately. This 30-day extension will in no way negatively impact any of the scheduled disbursements to school districts, fire districts, or any special districts. All 15 County Treasurers agree that the disbursements will proceed as planned. But all 15 also agree that this extension will give relief to many homeowners who are being negatively impacted by this pandemic.
In Maricopa County, the average amount of interest and penalties paid because of delinquencies during May is about $560,000. (That’s approximately the cost of mailing a tax notice to all homeowners with mortgages in our county as required by Sen. Vince Leach’s SB1113.) Even if you double that to $1,120,000, for the entire month, that is still a small loss considering the Maricopa County Treasurer’s Office has over $300 Million flowing through its coffers each day. The loss is “relatively insignificant” and is more than made up in our interest earnings projected to exceed $100 Million for FY2020.
Other states have taken similar action (https://napta.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/COVID-NAPTA-.pdf). Arizona needs to provide relief to taxpayers. We hope and pray for a quick recovery and to get back to normal; however, we do not know that timeline. Even if that happens, much damage has already occurred and many will continue to struggle; and some families and businesses may not ever fully recover from the economic damage.
Sincerely,
Royce T. Flora
Maricopa County Treasurer