Your Property Tax Bill and School Funding
Basics of School Funding
- Our budgets are based on various formulas which in the most basic form is $4,500 per elementary student and $4,900 per high school student.
- Once we determine the budget based on the formulas, we then look to where the revenue will come from to match the budget.
- The first component is how much the state will contribute towards that educational cost.
- The second component, the remainder, comes from individual taxpayers in the district.
- We take that remaining cost, divide by the total Assessed Valuation in the District, and that sets the tax rate.
- There is a second component of cost for debt service and overrides for Prescott Unified School District which is fully funded by the local taxpayers on the Secondary Assessed Valuation.
Misconceptions and Facts
- Our taxes went up because the schools are spending more. Prescott Unified School District has reduced our budgets by more than $7.8 million in the last 6 years. Staff was also reduced during this time by 109 positions.
- If the school’s budgets went down, I should be paying less. That depends on how much the state has contributed towards that educational cost (State Aid). In 2008-09, the state contributed 15% to Prescott Unified School District; in 2012-13, the state contributed less than 1%. The amount contributed is based on the Qualified Tax Rate (QTR) which is set by the legislature.
- All districts/cities in the state were affected the same on their tax bills. The average decrease in primary assessed valuation in Prescott was 8%. However, we’ve seen many areas where the homes maintained the value or increased in value, increasing their tax bill.
- Prescott Unified School District is spending more on their debt service. Prescott’s bond payment increased by approximately $30,000. This was due to the principal increasing based on the bond payment schedule.
So What Happened?
- Assessed valuations decreased across the state. If everything held the same, the increase in the QTR would have offset the decrease in values, making the tax BILL stay the same.
- However, different areas, even within a subdivision, had different changes in their assessed valuation. These are values set by the Yavapai County Assessor’s office.
- If your assessed valuation reduced greater than the average district’s decrease in assessed valuation, your tax bill went down.
- If your assessed valuation stayed flat, your tax bill went up.
- If your assessed valuation went up, your tax bill went up more.
What Can I Do?