NATIONAL TAXPAYERS CONFERENCE

PHILOSOPHY OF ORGANIZATION

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As a 501(c)(4), ATRA’s fundamental belief is that every government expenditure is directly related to a tax. For over 80 years, ATRA’s goal of efficient statewide government and effective use of tax dollars through sound fiscal policy has served to minimize the tax burden for all Arizonans. Generally, taxpayers have neither the time nor the expertise to monitor Arizona’s complicated public finance system. ATRA’s professional staff plays a vital role as the taxpayer's watchdog.

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ATRA's professional staff of public finance experts provides uncompromised research and information for taxpayers and policymakers. Members also have ready access to ATRA staff for up to the minute information on timely public finance and tax issues.

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PUBLICATIONS

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• Arizona Property Tax Rates & Assessed Values

• Arizona Tax Digest

• Arizona School Finance

• Arizona Community College Finance

• Arizona County Budget Review

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The Arizona Tax Research Association Newsletter is published monthly.

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SIGNIFICANT ACCOMPLISHMENTS

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ATRA successfully lobbied for the following major tax
changes:

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1. Authored and successfully campaigned for a constitutional valuation limit of 5% on all locally assessed property under Prop 117 in 2012.

2. Reduction in property taxes in Arizona in excess of $1 billion dollars since 1996.

3. Reduction in the corporate income tax rate from 9% to 4.9%.

4. Numerous reductions in business personal property taxes, including: exemption during construction work in progress; accelerated depreciation during the first five years after initial assessment; major business personal property tax reform that sets the full cash value at 2.5% of the property’s acquisition cost for property initially classified during or after tax year 2022; exemption for first $207,366 (Tax Year 2022) in value.

5. Required state and local governments to adhere to "Truth in Taxation" laws before increasing
   property taxes.

6. A greatly expanded state Taxpayers’ Bill of Rights, with Arizona now having one of the strongest Taxpayers’ Bill of Rights in the country.

7. The successful effort to repeal Arizona’s tax increment financing laws.

8. Historic TPT (sales tax) reform in 2013 that created uniformity between state and local sales tax collection and audit.

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WHAT OTHERS SAY ABOUT ATRA

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"ATRA improves the effectiveness of my tax department by doing many of the things that we have trouble finding time for: reviewing all legislation and initiatives to identify key issues, attending committee hearings, reviewing local government budgets, participation on key committees, etc. ATRA is a ‘bulldog’ in its watchdog function to promote both cost effective government and fair tax policies in Arizona."
  - Bill Molina, Vice President of Tax, University of Phoenix

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"The Arizona Tax Research Association is the most valuable analyst of fiscal policy in the state."
  - Robert Robb, Columnist, The Arizona Republic

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