Trustees of Maricopa County Community College District last week narrowly defeated a proposed 2% increase in the district’s property tax rate.
The increased rate would have generated $7.4 million for the district that serves Maricopa County, which includes Phoenix, Tempe, and Glendale. The property tax on an average home in the county would have gone up $2.15 a year with the increase.
District officials asked for the tax increase to help compensate for lower state funding.
The district could have asked for a 4.14% increase because the tax rate was not raised in 2009.
Arizona law allows community college districts to increase their property tax rate by 2% each year.
The Maricopa County district is the largest community college system in the United States.
Its general obligation debt is rated triple-A by all three major credit rating agencies.
