Ohmygawd, a 17-cents-a-month tax increase!

by David Safier

I usually don't write 6am posts. I like to have a cup of coffee and a quiet read of the paper this early in the morning. But this Rob O'Dell story is too incredible. I have to get this out of my system.

First, the real news. The Tucson City Council is proposing to add $1 a year in property tax for every $100,000 of value. That means, if you own, say, a $200,000 home, you'll pay $2 more a year, or 17 cents a month. In 2012, that will go up to a $6 increase per $100,000, which means a dollar a month increase on a $200,000 home.

Doesn't sound like much, does it?

Here's the screaming headline at the top of the Star's front page:

City plans tax hike to pay debt

Here are the first words:

City property owners could soon see a big tax increase to start paying down an $18 million deficit in the city's self-insurance fund – or at least to keep it from getting any bigger.

Big tax increase. Starting at 17 cents a month, then skyrocketing to a dollar a month on a modest priced home.

Honestly, I read the first half of the story 3 times to make sure I wasn't misreading it. It couldn't be that little, not with that headline and opening sentence! But it is.

Here's how O'Dell "explains" the tax hike, using Goldwater Institute style reporting.

For city homeowners, the 2012 increase amounts to a 6.6 percent boost just to help fix the self-insurance deficit.

People won't pay an extra 6.6% of the value of their property, which is what that sounds like. Yikes! An extra $12,000 a year on a $200,000 home! Nope. The amount of tax will go up 6.6%. So, the current city property tax of $186.74 on a $200,000 home will rise to $199.16, an increase of about $12 a year. Or a dollar a month.

See how easy it is to explain the tax increase clearly, without the hysteria?

Unbelievably bad, misleading reporting.