By Elizabeth Troutman |

A bill proposed by state Sen. Warren Petersen, R-Gilbert, to require cities and counties to have a 2/3 vote to increase taxes passed out of the Senate Government committee.

Every Republican voted yes, while every state Senate Democrat voted no. 

Senate Bill 1056 “Prohibits the common council of a municipality from increasing an assessment, tax or fee without a two-thirds vote of the common council of the municipality and “Prohibits the board of supervisors of a county from increasing an assessment, tax or fee without a two-thirds vote of the board of supervisors of the county.”

“Basically, if you want to increase taxes or fees, you need to have a supermajority, or a two-thirds vote, I should say,” Petersen said in summation of the bill during the state Senate Committee On Government meeting. 

Taxes are often the biggest expense people face in their lifetime, Petersen said. 

“Right now, our citizens are reeling from inflation, which has been caused by a large part by Washington, D.C. and our printing of money and overspending,” Petersen said. “The last thing we need to do right now is increase taxes and fees on our citizens.”

Governments need to find more efficient solutions, according to Petersen. 

“I saw one study,” Petersen said, “It shows over your lifetime. You spend over one out of every three dollars of your money on taxes, whether you’ve got income tax when you receive money. When you spend money, sales tax, you’ve got property tax. You have utility taxes. I could go on and on and on.”

Government is very well represented while the taxpayer is limited, Petersen continued. 

“I think this levels the playing field a little more between the taxpayer and the government,” Petersen said. 

Elizabeth Troutman is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send her news tips using this link.