by Daniel Stefanski | Jul 14, 2023 | News
By Daniel Stefanski |
A state government agency is earning accolades for its positive workplace environment.
On Tuesday, the Arizona Department of Revenue made the 11th annual list of 2023 Top Companies to Work for in Arizona, giving the agency this honor for the second straight year. The list comes from the Arizona Capitol Times, Best Companies Group, and BestCompaniesAZ.
According to the Department of Revenue, “this highly selective list is the result of comprehensive, anonymous employee surveys measuring culture, work environment, leadership, and employee pride and satisfaction, combined with rigorous evaluations of workplace practices, policies, benefits, and demographics.”
“The Arizona Department of Revenue is honored to receive this award for the second year in a row, and all the credit goes to our incredible people,” said Rob Woods, Director of the Arizona Department of Revenue. “We have a diverse team with a culture of inclusion who daily display that they care about one another, lift each other up personally and professionally, and are consistently seeking excellence in their service to Arizona’s taxpayers. We are grateful that our people and culture have been recognized and are looking forward to the coming year as we celebrate this achievement and incorporate new initiatives for our team members.”
Woods was “appointed as Director of the Arizona Department of Revenue in March 2021, having joined the Department in January 2020 as Deputy Director.” He previously “founded the Government Transformation Office for the State of Arizona, led the development of the Arizona Management System, and served as Vice President at JP Morgan Chase.”
After then-Governor Doug Ducey appointed Woods to the Director’s position, Ducey said, “He continues to find innovative ways to improve operations and enhance efficiency, and he stepped up to a leadership role during a crucial time for our state.”
On January 17, Governor Katie Hobbs announced that Woods would remain as the Department’s Director. Hobbs released a statement about Woods (and two other members of her expanding cabinet included in the release), saying, “I have the utmost confidence that these directors have the expertise and wherewithal to take on the challenges and opportunities in their department.”
The Department also took time to share some features about itself in the news release about its inclusion in the exclusive list, writing, “ADOR offers a healthy work-life balance and a culture of personal and professional development, with educational opportunities and in-house training. The Department excels at helping our team members find meaningful, fulfilling careers with us. We recognize our people in several ways, highlighting those who exemplify our agency’s Core Values of Commit to Excellence, Care About Each Other, and Do the Right Thing. ADOR truly thrives in our collaboration and open communication. We excel in being transparent with each other and bringing everyone to the table. Our leaders are coaches, encouraging input from all and helping teams discover solutions to foster our culture of continuous improvement. At ADOR, we know we aren’t just developing employees; we’re developing leaders.”
Daniel Stefanski is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
by Daniel Stefanski | Jun 1, 2023 | Education, News
By Daniel Stefanski |
An Arizona Democrat leader is receiving pushback for his selective cropping of a memo from the Arizona Department of Education.
On Tuesday, Christine Accurso, the Executive Director of the ESA Program for Republican Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne’s administration, submitted “the annual estimate of the amount required to fund empowerment scholarship accounts” to the Joint Legislative Budget Committee for the 2024 fiscal year.
Accurso’s estimate concluded “that the projected enrollment by the end of Fiscal Year 2024 will be at 100,000 students with roughly $900,000,000 necessary to fund them.”
Andrés Cano, the Democrat Leader in the Arizona House of Representatives, tweeted out the memo – up until the point where Accurso shared the price tag of the program. He added. “without reform, Empowerment Scholarship Accounts will bankrupt our state & our public schools.”
Cano left out the last paragraph of the memo, where Accurso wrote: “We have made this projection with the help of our Chief Auditor, John Ward who conducted the analysis. It is important to note that we currently have 57,886 students in the program. For budgeting purposes, it is also important to note that many of the students that are enrolling now are coming from the public school system, which in the end saves the state money because the empowerment scholarship accounts are funded at a lower percentage than the state aid for a pupil in the public school system.”
One of the top school choice advocates in the country, Corey DeAngelis, highlighted the omission from Cano, tweeting, “hey why did you cut off the end of the letter.” DeAngelis included an image of the entire memo.
He also asked, “how much would those same students cost in the government schools?”
Jason Bedrick, a Research Fellow at the Heritage Foundation, also weighed in, stating, “$900M is about 1% of the state’s $80.5 billion budget – and the ESA costs about half as much per pupil as the public school system. The sky isn’t falling.”
Grant Botma, a best-selling author also shared his thoughts on Cano’s charge, posting, “The Arizona Auditor General report shows the public school system spends $10,729 per pupil. The $900,000,000 divided by 100,000 from your image is $9000 per student. That is a $1,729 savings. How would that “bankrupt our state”?
Members from both sides of the political aisle at the Arizona Legislature quickly piled onto Cano’s controversial tweet. On the Republican side, Representative Jacqueline Parker commented, “This is GREAT! But not enough yet. $900 million is a drop in the bucket to the other $7+BILLION spent on the useless indoctrination camps that are ‘government schools’. Until ESA’s are pulling at LEAST $5 Billion from government schools, our job is not yet finished.”
Representative Joseph Chaplik tweeted, “Simply not true. Just like the state doesn’t fund K-12 enough. This same lie is getting old fast!”
On the Democrat side, Senator Priya Sundareshan wrote, “During the last few months we were getting estimates that the cost to the state of the universal voucher program had increased to $600M, instead of the $30M originally promised when they passed it last year. Now we see it has already grown to $900M. How high will it climb??”
Twitter provided a community note to provide context for Cano’s tweet: “Cano has cropped out the portion of the letter which explains how this program saves the state money. The cropped out portion directly counters his claim that this program will ‘bankrupt our state.’”
Daniel Stefanski is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
by AZ Free Enterprise Club | Mar 5, 2023 | Opinion
By the Arizona Free Enterprise Club |
Who wouldn’t want more money in their pocket? As Bidenflation continues to crush the American people—and in particular the people of Arizona—our elected leaders should be looking for every way possible to provide relief.
Just look at the anti-tax mood among Arizona voters this past November. They rejected Prop 310, which would have increased the statewide sales tax by 0.1% to fund fire districts throughout Arizona. They voted down ill-conceived transportation taxes in Pinal County and Kingman. And they passed Prop 132 to protect against future tax increases. That should be proof enough that Arizonans want to ensure that their hard-earned dollars stay in their wallets.
Now, a new bill recently passed by the Arizona Senate would do just that…
>>> CONTINUE READING >>>
by Terri Jo Neff | Mar 15, 2022 | News
By Terri Jo Neff |
The Arizona Department of Revenue announced Tuesday it is working with its tax software vendor to automatically amend any filed 2021 individual income tax returns impacted by the recent overturning of Proposition 208.
The 3.5 percent surcharge on individual income over $250,000 ($500,000 married filing jointly) hit taxpayers starting in 2021, but last week a Maricopa County Superior Court judge struck down Prop 208 as unconstitutional.
Taxpayers who have already filed their Arizona individual income tax returns using current forms and instructions will not need to file an amended return, according to ADOR.
“The Department will hold these returns and process them correctly once it has modified its tax system to remove the surcharge and amend the tax bracket rates,” the statement reads. “At that time, ADOR will automatically adjust the returns to provide for the correct distribution of monies.”
The court ruling which voided Prop 208 will not, however, actually impact an individual’s overall tax liability. The reason, according to ADOR, is legislation signed into law last year by Gov. Doug Ducey which counteracted the surcharge by reducing the state’s top income tax rate for those subjected to the additional tax.
With the Prop 208 surcharge now dropped to 0 percent, the top income tax rate will return to 4.5 percent, ADOR noted.
“Arizona taxpayers will neither owe more tax nor receive a larger refund due to the voiding of the Prop 208 Surcharge,” the statement reads.
Taxpayers who have not yet filed a 2021 individual income tax return are reminded of Arizona’s April 18 filing deadline. ADOR is working as quickly as possible to revise the 2021 tax forms and adjusting the individual income tax brackets to the now proper rates.
State officials are also working with various tax software companies like TurboTax and H&R Block to ensure changes are made to those programs as well.
READ MORE ABOUT PROP 208 COURT RULING
by Terri Jo Neff | Aug 28, 2021 | News
By Terri Jo Neff |
As if the last 17 months haven’t been complicated enough, the Arizona Department of Revenue announced Thursday that some taxpayers who received income in 2020 from the $12.5 billion paid out by the state for unemployment insurance benefits and pandemic unemployment assistance may be eligible for a tax refund.
The refund can be obtained by filing an Arizona Form 140X amended return. But that is where the simple part ends.
The possibility of a refund affects those Arizonans who received unemployment payments in 2020 and filed their state income tax return on or before March 11, 2021. That’s the date the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 was signed by President Joe Biden, making up to $10,200 of unemployment benefits exempt from federal income taxes in 2020.
Gov. Doug Ducey later signed legislation which mirrored the federal exemption, meaning many Arizonans with 2020 unemployment income likely filed a state tax return under the old tax code.
ADOR could have created a computer program to identify the affected taxpayers who filed on or before March 11 and send them a notification. Instead, the burden is on Arizonans to navigate a maze of “if this, then that” instructions from ADOR in order to obtain a refund.
To start with, the Arizona Form 140X cannot be filed unless the taxpayer’s 2020 federal tax return has been amended first. The IRS is already doing that for some taxpayers and even sending an adjustment notice with a refund check. Everyone else is responsible for preparing and filing an amended federal return.
Either way, Arizonans eligible for a refund due to overpaying taxes on their 2020 unemployment benefits must wait for the IRS to confirm the federal return has been adjusted. And then they have to ask the IRS for a “transcript” after the amended federal return is processed.
Once that is done, a taxpayer can complete the Arizona Form 140X. However, it cannot be e-filed through ADOR’s website; it must be printed out and mailed in.
On the upside, Arizonans have four years to amend their state income tax return to claim a refund for overpayment of unemployment income. An amended 2020 return filed in 2022, however, could trigger the need for an amended return in 2021.
Most Arizona residents will be able to complete the Arizona Form 140X by following simplified instructions provided at https://azdor.gov. However, part-year residents and nonresidents must follow the full instructions for Form 140X.
