In 1980, the Arizona Legislature refined the school finance system to provide equal dollars per weighted pupil for school district operations through a balancing of the local qualifying property tax rate and State/County equalization assistance so that districts experience similar “effort” in raising educational dollars for their students irrespective of property valuations within their boundaries. The State still utilizes this formula today.  Therefore, as property value increases, State Equalization decreases and vice versa.  Everyone in Arizona has to pay fifty percent of the qualifying tax rate, thus the “equalization” concept.

In the case of Cave Creek, the total primary assessed value of the district is $2.3B, providing $448,000 of assessed value per student.  In comparison, our neighboring district, Deer Valley Unified, has approximately $89,529 per student.  Deer Valley receives $103,202,000 in State Equalization and Cave Creek, one of a handful of districts in Maricopa County, is not eligible for state equalization assistance because of its property wealth, and receives no state equalization.

Public schools in Arizona are governed by the Arizona Constitution and Title 15 of the Arizona Revised Statutes (ARS). ARS §15.992.B. states “At the same time of levying taxes as provided in subsection A of this section, the county board of supervisors shall annually levy an additional tax in each school district that is not eligible for equalization assistance as provided in section 15-971.  Because of this statute and the assessed value in Cave Creek, the County Assessor collects approximately $4.1M annually from taxpayers on the line entitled “ADDL EDUC AID – CAVE CREEK” which is transmitted to the state treasurer for deposit in the state general fund to aid in school financial assistance.  CAVE CREEK UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT DOES NOT RECEIVE ANY OF THIS FUNDING.